Believe it or not, there are a lot of American dubstep artists who are closet D&B heads. Fans of both genres may see crossovers like the Noisia/Skrillex collabs and artists like Run DMT releasing drum and bass off and on and think these are isolated incidents, but as both genres continue to evolve, it’s becoming more and more common. The prevailing idea within D&B seems to be that dubstep producers can’t make good D&B for a number of reasons, but more and more artists are proving the punters wrong. US based artist Figure is one of them and his forthcoming EP Computer Room on Prolix’s Trendkill Records is a solid example.
Figure has been a fixture in the dubstep and drumstep underground for nearly two decades, with his own imprint, DOOM Music being quite prolific in the horror/metal sub-subgenre of dubstep. His Monsters of Drumstep vol. 1 just celebrated its 15 year anniversary with a re-release earlier this year, commemorating a 14 volume series. It was with this series that Figure’s sound took hold and, over the past decade and a half, not only helped define horror dub-and-drumstep, but even helped it permeate popular culture. Among all his other accomplishments and working with some of the biggest names in dubstep, he’s contributed to the Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights soundtracks since 2012 and his popular track ‘Monster Mania’ was featured on the cult classic comedy show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
All one really has to hear is ‘horror’ or ‘metal-influence’ to figure out why Prolix was interested in Figure for his first drum and bass EP on a fully drum and bass label, but listening to the EP, it’s clear that this musical marriage is more nuanced than just hard beats and metal influence. The four track EP has a healthy dose of old school flavour, with the beats and samples opening track ‘Terminal’ hearkening right back to the ravey, Prodigy-soaked techstep of the mid-90s front and centre. ‘Rubber’ sounds more modern, with its hurricane snares and clean drums, but it also has a sharp golden age rave influence and some cheeky amens in the intro. ‘Weapon’ closes out the release with a vibe that would slide right in to any neurofunk party in 2026, so this EP’s sort of a history lesson in rave. Like many other dubstep artists, it’s clear Figure’s loved D&B from the early days.
‘Dead or Alive’, the Kmag premiere track for today, is a bit of a curveball in the progression of the afore-mentioned Computer Room history lesson, as it’s much more in line with Figure’s horror step sound than the other tracks. Still showcasing a number of elements from all periods of D&B, ‘Dead or Alive’ also has a load of goth/emo/screamo mashup elements, per the vocals and synth ornamentations. The grindy, crunchy synths also have a speed and scale that will remind fans of metal. This style has been popular in dubstep for a fair few years, but only made a sporadic appearance in D&B. If goth/emo/screamostep suddenly becomes popular this year in drum and bass, fans will know who to credit (or blame).