The Vitals:

Label: Giantslayers
Genre: Techhouse, Techno
Number of Tracks: 4
How to Obtain: www.giantslayers.com

Factor Scores:

Production Quality: 7.5
Programming and Arrangement: 6.0
Entertainment Quality: 6.0
Total: 6.5 – Above Average

Gerwin's Take:

This 4-track release is the fourth release on the fairly new Giantslayers label. The first track, "Ate", starts with a percussion loop and an electro-type bassline. The melodic theme of the track consist mainly of this bassline. It sounds static but not in an annoying way. The synths are very warm and have a staccato feel which gives the track a hasted vibe. Next, "Glow" has a more aggressive feel with raw and unclean sounds. Featuring a housey filtered sample and a typical high sounding synth sound that gives the track a tropical disco sound layered in techno percussion and drums.

The style goes back to the electro sound on the third track, "Selection". The bassline provides enough energy to let this track go on for a while. The track has good drums, including an interesting vocal sample used as a percussion instrument. The final  track, "Thenightb4", is my personal favourite. This one has a more progressive feel with some nice pads and acid sounds. Till the break, it progresses nicely. But after the break, it feels like the track is starting from the beginning again; the second part is almost the same as the first part. The groove in this track is very good and makes me pick this track as my favourite.

As said in another review (Isaiah vs. Matthew Hyatt – Struggle EP), the tracks are very loop based. This might be well suited for techno using complex mixing tricks, but standalone, the tracks are a bit boring from start to end. There are filter changes, percussion variations, and effects applied, but the melodic themes stay the same, and the tracks always seem to go into one direction. The builds and climaxing aren't strong enough to keep it interesting for me. On the other side, the tracks are very warm, have good sounds, and are simple but well mixed.

A sidenote: The start and endings of the tracks aren't really DJ friendly as they all immediatelly start with percussion and bassline and stop without building everything down to only a bassdrum or percussion.