It feels like the DnB community has been waiting on Enei and Kasra’s Transmitter EP to drop on Critical since last year. Granted it’s January 12 and that’s not very long, but nonetheless. It’s finally here, with five tracks of dark, amen-y drum and bass just the way Critical fans like it.
It will be interesting to see on Beatport what the BPMs are for these tracks, because they sound so much like early ’00s darkstep, especially in terms of pitch, that one may wonder if they’re not in the 165 BPM range. That’s one way to get such a heavy sub bass sound such as Kasra and Enei have on this EP, especially on tracks like “1000.” Said track seems really sparse and the potentially slow pitch is particularly noticeable there, but the bass, sub bass and bass synths are absolutely on point in a way that maybe couldn’t happen if the producers hadn’t stripped it down so much.
Another highlight on the EP is “Rolling Walls,” on which the snares and amens smack of Enei. Not that Kasra doesn’t know how way around a snare or an amen. The title track and EP opener featuring Jakes is another one where the sub bass phrase-enders are jaw dropping. Is there such a thing as a starburst sub bass? If not, it seems Kasra and Enei may have invented it. “Projections,” meanwhile, has a surprisingly melodic opening before going into what sounds like an old school liquid beat. It gets dark, heavy and snare-y quite quickly, however, with a really cool phrase-end sample or synth which is both technically interesting and emotionally celestial. The EP ends with “Look Ahead” which is a sort of a defining combination of what audiences will know as Enei and Kasra’s individual styles. Snares and jazzy drum work flank heavy sub bass and twisted snares. It’s a good way to end the EP, as it shows what amazing things each producer can do and what a collab looks like between these two.
As an opening release to 2018, Kasra and Enei have certainly nailed it with the Transmitter EP, though Kasra also sees this EP as putting a period on Critical’s 15-year celebration in 2017 as well. It’s a great release to bridge the old and the new.
Transmitter is out today, January 12 and is available on Critical’s website.