MELT (ELM Collective)

MELT is an anthology, and as such each track is pretty distinctive. It really pays to listen to each track closely here, as each individual artist has done a lot to make tracks memorable. The overall impression is an IDM treat with lots of delicious drum machine rolls and synths you can really sink your teeth into.

Dracul starts off the album on a strong note with metallic beats and an iconic synth melody.

This track has a couple of particularly well-executed change-up. It plays in a bunch of space that you usually wouldn’t hear in an IDM track. Lots of different sounds playing short sections of a melody in turn, chopped vocals, and other excitement.

Not only is this track great, but it introduced me to Iconic Black Suit who has a deep catalog, including Bionic Eyes Won’t Cry.

Ridebreak absolutely nails the Hangable Auto Bulb drums, but just as you think that’s all it’s going to be, it launches into this awesome soaring videogamey melody that carries the rest of the track. It took me a few listens to get into it.

Megadrive’s 199XAD: a return to form

We’ve now had synthwave for longer than the 80s actually lasted, so it’s fitting that MegaDrive’s latest release looks a bit further forward into the past. This won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has followed MegaDrive’s ascent into ever-denser industrial depravity, but the sound is a bit different this time around-lusher, brighter, and more of a mechanical edge.

Some tracks are specific callous to moments in ‘8X though-the abrupt drop from Operator into Gun Hag recalls the drop from Infiltration into Acid Spit (still one of the top five drops in Retrowave.) Unlike Acid Spit, though, Gun Hag keeps on delivering after the shock of the initial drop wears off-the melodic section really carries it’s weight here.

I could swear that H.exe is The Reducer but with more of a pluck sound and a more progressive beat.

The most 90s-flavored track has got to be SKULJammer, which hits hard with orchestra hit samples (think Mortal Kombat) over a blend of glassy pop synths and distorted beats. And like several other tracks, it challenges you to play “synth or guitar” as the heavy sounds come in.

Another callback is Crypt Diver, which has elements of Memory Dealer, but replaces the utter darkness of the latter with an almost chiptuney swagger, and a very cool glitchy breakdown at the end.

What stands out most is the way MegaDrive chooses to end each track. Rather than a period-accurate fade-out, here he opts more often for a twist ending, changing up the beat and making you listen all the way to the end every time, in a way that few dance tracks (most synthwave included) do.