Virus Syndicate are not only one of the few MC acts in bass music who have been able to make a name for themselves in both drum & bass and dubstep but they’re also one of the few who have been able to put out multi track releases under their own name rather than being just a “feat.” tagged on the end of a producer’s track. They just came off a massive dubstep EP released in June on Disciple called The Antidote and now on Monday their mostly D&B EP Too Sick will be dropping on Blackout. Talk about your switch hitters.
For production on Too Sick, Virus Syndicate teamed up with hard D&B’s heaviest of heavy hitters to make the EP steppy and danceable but also massively heavy. Neonlight, State of Mind, Pythius and Proxima all contributed to this new set of bangers but the track “Back Up” is the only one on Too Sick that’s a slower tempo. While “Back Up” is technically halftime, Proxima of course is also an artist who’s successfully done D&B/dubstep crossover, so it only made sense for his collab with Virus Syndicate to be in that tempo register.
Despite being at a tempo which, in the US, we would call hip hop or trap if someone is rapping over it, “Back Up” is very distinctly EDM with a beat structure that’s almost riddim-like and crisp trap snares, Proxima leaves a lot of open space for Virus Syndicate to really get down lyrically. There’s a somewhat minimal synth pattern in each phrase but it provides less melody, per se, and more grounding for the rapping duo. It’s an excellent fusion that highlights the skills of Virus Syndicate without overpowering them with too much neuro synths. It will likely creep its way into sets on both sides of the bass music aisle this year.
It’s always fun to see when MCs in EDM are able to rise to the level of having their own multi-track EP because it always seems to elevate the sounds produced by both MC and producer and force us to hear the music in a different way. Virus Syndicate more than achieved this with Too Sick in multiple genres, so it’s safe to say they’re earning their recognition from both labels and fans.
Too Sick releases on Blackout this Monday, July 20. Click here to pre-order.
