Savant returns with his newest highly anticipated album ‘Cult‘! We’re here to give you a complete rundown on the album as well as giveaway free copies to ten lucky viewers!!
It goes without saying that Savant is an incredibly difficult artist to comprehensively review as he is without a doubt one of a kind in both the EDM and musical world. That said, Cult is an absolutely awesome genre spanning album that displays Aleksander’s growth, development, and subsequently mastery of the electronic platform. Ranging from Glitch Hop, Electro, Trap, and Dub and Drum Step, Cult shows an evolution in Savant‘s sound design coupled with his one of a kind arrangement.
The absolute stand out track on this album is the Electro House banger Forbidden ft. Kaster. At a whopping 8:39 in length, Forbidden is nearly twice as long as every other track on the album and is an absolute melodic masterpiece. Perhaps my favorite Savant tune since Prelude, this minor key track has a grandiose melody that is somewhat creeping and haunting but incredibly driving and catchy. The bass line is less ‘serious’ and is full of complextro vowel basses and plucked tones that fill out the track nicely. It’s a gorgeous tune and definitely is the highlight of the album in my opinion.
Diversity is the name of the game with Savant and Cult is no exception to this. Aleksander has no shortage of innovative ideas which makes each song feels fresh and interesting. West Coast for example is a glitchy, yet dancey, tune with great swing that is all but traditional for EDM. The Norwegian produces a track that sounds as if he had grown up in the Bay Area of California, immersing himself naturally in a sound native to a locale half a world away. The same can be said for Chop It the Trap offering. I’ve noticed very few Euro Trap artists outside of Rustie who really create a natural bassy sound without falling short or going full on gimicky. Chop It without a doubt will destroy American audiences who are used to the Southern style.
In a scene where personality can define artists and set them apart from the crowd, Savant excels. I found myself laughing at parts of the album, due to quirky samples or straight crazy fills and hooks. It makes the album more enjoyable and gives a lighthearted and stand out feel to an otherwise intense album. The main sample in Patriots makes no sense but, I love the ridiculousness of it: “I could slap you right now and there’s nothing you could f*cking do”. Pure gold. Which leads me into my next point of sound design.
To be fair, Savant has received criticism in the past for sometimes hurried sound design which at times I will admit has sounded thin. This problem has been all but eliminated in Cult and the improvement is especially noticeable in the 140-180 BPM works. His vowel basses and talking synths have fattened up without taking an insanely heavy and distorted route. Somewhat reminiscent of older Dubstep such as Datsik and Excision the tones are very “wet” in nature; sounding more liquid and less like someone repeatedly striking a metal pipe with a chainsaw. Coupled with Savant‘s excellent arrangement, Cult feels full and well produced more so than any of his works to date.
Fans and new listeners alike will be downright pleased with Cult. That’s as simple as it gets. I can’t do the album justice by talking about it, with an artist as unique as Savant the only true way to ‘get’ the album is to listen to it. Each track is fresh and stands out; I found it so enjoyable that I finished the album in one sitting, which is rare for me to do. I give Cult a solid two thumbs up, for its quirky arrangements, unque personality, and markedly improved production and sound design. I do have to add one bit of criticism however, while the sound design has come quite a long way since ISM it still could be improved slightly, but that’s just a drop of criticism in an otherwise ocean of praise. Check a few tracks out below and be sure to enter our giveaway!!
Savant – Forbidden feat. Kaster (Original Mix)
Savant – Chop It (Orignal Mix)
Savant – Kali 47 (Original Mix)