Extra Terra - Accelerate or Die

One of the best to do it is doing it again. And by “it” I mean making some glorious, cinematic darksynth beats that have no right to be this crunchy or electric by any means necessary. My personal love for this project has been stated multiple times in the past as the reviews for 2020’s “Projekt 2077” and 2021’s “Zion” were met with solid scores, the first being awarded an 8.5 and the latter being given a slight bump up with a 9.0 out of 10. This album is just as grand and large as the other two and propels it to similar heights thanks to an awesome line-up of club ready beats and frenetic collaborations. 

The opening of the album brings us right into the thickness of a cyberpunk metropolis with ‘Club Entropy’. Violins and atmospheric synths, like those from a movie trailer predicting something massive crawling out from a crater, amps up the tension as a bassline forms underneath. This all explodes out into the open around the one-minute and ten-second mark when a futuristic club beat blasts forth; a four-on-the-floor beat-filled reckoning. 

‘Human Techno Capital Machine’ has a similar intro, sounding something straight out of my favorite fighting game franchise Tekken, as angelic chorus and further violins breathe life into the void. A robotic voice announces the title of the track as we’re led into a fun romp of fast-paced electric lines; an ethereal vibe. ‘Feel the AGI’ has a similar aesthetic as this one; rather than focusing on bass-filled beats we get more of a technical focus. Each sample a purpose; every layer a unique sound. None are drowned out by one another; no filler, all killer. 

The first collaboration on the album hits next with ‘Neurovolt’. This sees Extra Terra pair himself with BMX Escape and what we get is an electrifying journey through the depths of the deep web. The middle of the song even contains a bit of a breakdown where rolling, ambient synths takeover for a short while before the main beat comes back to life. 

We then come into the track ‘Futurephonk’. The intro sees a deep voice rap over the beat for around forty-seconds before it breaks out into a future-heavy hit complete with small breaks of silence, a breakdown in the middle, and all around dance attitude. The next track is another four-on-the-floor banger featuring up-and-coming cyberpunk producer Celina (seriously, though, if you haven’t listened to her stuff yet, you’re missing out). ‘Doomers’ gives us a bit of a metal-tinge to the album as it serves as an intermission piece before heading right into a string of collabs. 

 Back-to-back come along Infraction, Castroe, and Rogue VHS on the tracks ‘Void’, ‘Judgement Time’, and ‘Arrakis’. What else can I say other than that these three songs lined-up one after the other is nothing short of awe inspiring. After another fast-paced, more techno oriented track in ‘Alternate Universe’, the final collaboration on the album comes in with Lazerpunk on ‘Back From The Future’. I wasn’t surprised that Lazerpunk was featured on this album due to the producer’s love for all things cars – and beautiful, fast cars at that. The final two tracks ‘The Singularity Is Nearer’ and ‘Extropy’ see us on our way out of the journey. Perhaps a bit exhausted, but still all fun, with ‘Extropy’ mirroring the introductory track by singing us a swan song with the melancholic strings of a violin. 

Extra Terra hits it out of the park once again. I think the only real improvement I could see for this artist going forward would be to play around with vocalists a bit more on future releases; have some guest vocalists come and sing on your songs. Something by way of Nina or Dana Jean Phoenix, maybe? Either way, the instrumentals are still rocking. Keep it up.