This review was commissioned. However, it bears no weight on the score or decision. All reviews are written from an unbiased standpoint.
Not too long ago did I receive an interesting request from Vexillary: review two albums via compare and contrast. The first being his early 2024 album “Horror in Dub” and his second being the remix album “Horror ReDubs”. Basically a double album with me choosing my favorites between the two. I thought this would be an interesting article, an interesting feature / review. But seeing how I can’t put two scores in one review, we’re keeping it in the features section.
Note, to keep this fair I listened to both the original songs and the remixes in the same fashion at the same level as I listen to every other song I put through my speakers.
The original version of the title track ‘Horror In Dub’ sounds like something an early 80s EBM project would have put out if they didn’t have anyone to mix or master their material. It’s rough, to say the very least; hardly any bass, vocals drowned out, and a repetitive motion to it all. Andy Martin’s version is a completely stripped back version of the song that allows the vocals to come forward. The vox remind me of something that would be found on an italo-disco record as does what the rest of the song does.
The original version of ‘Animalic’ is much better in comparison to the previous. But, again, I feel as if the vocals are drowned and a lot of what’s on the song doesn’t feel entirely complete. It’s bouncy, that’s for sure, and could be played at a dance event, but there are better alternatives. Kris Baha was in charge of the remix for this song and immediately the difference was night and day. Kris Baha keeps the tension of the original, ramps up the bassline, and utilizes the vocals as a more of a background noise as if it’s some kind of dystopian cyberpunk announcement.
Breakcore is the name of the game on ‘Insurrection’. Keeping this quick, the vocals are buried again. The beat is okay, something you can tap your toes along too. But it’s nothing fascinating either. Blush Response takes charge on the review front. It’s a deep bass cut. A bit sloppy for me, but the noise is what drives it forward. Not the best remix on the album, and not my favorite work from Blush Response. But it is serviceable.
‘My Vertigo’ is the next song on the album and this is probably the best we’ve heard from Vexillary thus far. The bass is a pulse, livens you up, and the backing electronics add a bit of squeaky texture. Still a problem with the vocals, however. Leon Switch does a good job on his remix showcasing what could be when the vocals come forward. For the first time I hear them pretty loud and clear and it’s a shame that they’re so buried on the original album cause they are quite good. Switch’s approach is a gorgeous cinematic piece with bits of decoded electronics, slow paced, and filled with soul. It turned out to be one of my favorites on the album.
‘Under My Skin’ makes me feel as if I’m in the bathroom of a very loud club and I can only hear the feint sound of the music through the door. Apokryph’s remix doesn’t do too many favors to the song, either. The whirling synths high up above don’t match up with the hardcore electronic beat that’s in the track, and then the vocals thrown in don’t match. It’s like three separate parts of three different songs meeting in a mashup that doesn’t quite mashup.
I don’t quite know how to describe ‘In Danger’ other than it sounds like a track that would be background music. To what is another question. I could see myself using it as I do busy work around the house; nothing that’s going to immediately grab my attention but it’ll help keep me moving. But that’s about it. Matias Bagato’s remix is a decent attempt at fixing it. But it doesn’t add too much to the lineup other than a centered bassline. It keeps the repetitive nature of the original until the end.
‘A New Body’ gives us a better taste of what Vexillary can do. An electro-industrial track through and through featuring EBM. Sure, it’s repetitive and is a bit sloppy with everything that’s thrown at the wall. But it’s better than what I’ve heard so far. Vocals are way, way buried to the point of asking if they’re even necessary. This is in comparison to Nightcrawler’s remix of the single. Nightcrawler does what I expected the artist to do; reimagine the track as a fully-fledged piece. Heavier hitting bass, appropriate use of cinematic sections, while utilizing the original track’s flavor as samples throughout. A techno banger through and through.
‘The Smoke’ is more of the same from Vexillary at this point and my complaints remain the same. Statiqbloom gets on board for the remix on this one. And what he does is make a industrial-techno / noise remix of the single. The noise walls are there but so is the bass. Do I think the remix runs a bit too long? Absolutely. Six minutes it does get stale. But it works so much better than the original.
‘Paris Spleen’ is something that was completely unexpected and sounds like something from a zany commercial. Rapid pace, odd synths, everything thrown right in your face. Honestly, it isn’t terrible but I wouldn’t rank it as good either. VHS Head takes the concept and turns it into bit of glitchy stumpiness. The vocals are cut, edited, and slapped back in over a heavier bassline and some decent synth work. It’s crazy the artist was able to make this work but he does. And it sounds pretty cool.
The last song on the album is ‘By Design’ and this one sounds pretty good as well. Again, nothing crazy good, but I could see myself using it as a workout song or something. Similar antics from Vexillary, but a bit noisier, a bit more focused, and the noise is concentrated. And this is a point where I’ll say the remix doesn’t beat out the original. I see where Alessandro Nero was headed; giving it heavier bass and attempting to turn it into a club song. But he drowns everything out with that bass.
Coming to the end I’ll say that Vexillary’s original album “Horror in Dub” just doesn’t work at all for me. I think a lot of the songs have poor mixing / mastering, that the vocalists (who sound pretty good, by the way) are buried in the deepest recesses of the songs, and the amount of things that are going on in each song make it hard to enjoy most of them. I think the main issue I find with “Horror in Dub” is that the songs are hardly ever centered, or focused, and they fail to impress. This album would be worth a 4 out of 10 to me.
The remix album, on the other hand, is much more impressive. I think this is a good example of what happens when professionals take on something that’s not quite up to standards. The works of Nightcrawler and Leon Switch stand out to me the most on the album. Production is good, mixes are good, and a lot of the elements that are drowned out on the original album are either repurposed or removed for the sake of clarity. Rating the remix album I’d give it a solid 7 as there were a few songs on it that I was not a huge fan of.
Perhaps moving forward Vexillary can learn a thing or two from what was done on the remix album. Take notes, study, and see how you can improve in the future.
