Admittedly, drum and bass isn’t something I listen to on a regular basis, but that’s part of the reason I was looking forward to this hearing this album. Personal listening habits aside, New Zealand is a country that continues to produce world class electronica, with giants like Shapeshifter dominating overseas’ drum and bass scenes. And Cern’s new album Terminus has the potential to do exactly that.
It’s worth a mention that Cern have held on strongly to their drum and bass roots. It seems every man (Rihanna) and his dog (Britney) has jumped the shark to dubstep recently, and although I am a fan of dubstep, it’s refreshing to see that Cern has stuck with what they know and love.
The first two tracks on Terminus contrast each other nicely, and together, set the mood for the overall sound of the album. Opening with Hopetown Bridge, we see a relatively slow and hypnotic side to Cern. The sounds give the eerie feeling of the calm before the storm. The pace then picks up nicely with True Talk, and the storm has well and truly arrived.
There are some impressive collaborations on the album including tracks with drum and bass superstars Sabre and Concord Dawn. Wasabi featuring New Zealand’s Teknik is a particular highlight. Tracks like Doubledown and Life’s Curse can only be a taste of what a Cern set must be like live.
Cern generally avoids lyrics in their music, opting instead to focus on their abundant production and DJ skills. For me, lyrics do tend to make a song more fun, but the music is strong and exciting enough that it’s easy to forgive the lack of sing-a-long opportunities.
Terminus is a solid drum and bass album. There are a few generic moments, but only a few. The album is comprehensive and impressively cohesive, and more than a few of the tracks play extremely pleasant tricks on the mind. Cern is another notable reason that the New Zealand drum and bass scene is so strong, and even for rookies like me, the high level of skill showcased on Terminus is obvious.
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About the author sidvicious
One of my favourite quotes ever was by a character I hated in a movie I will never understand. “I will be dying and so will you, and so will everyone here. We’re all hurtling towards death, yet here we are for the moment, alive. Each of us knowing we’re going to die, each of us secretly believing we won’t.” If you know who said it, and if you wished it was someone more inspiring, then we might be soulmates. I love music, although that defines nothing about me, because who doesn’t? Favourite artists include Architecture in Helsinki, The Maccabees, The Beatles, The Smiths, Born Ruffians, Joy Division, The Drums, The Rifles, Say Anything, The Libertines, Eminem, Shout Out Louds, Darwin Deez, The Knife, Vampire Weekend, The Cure, The xx, Hellogoodbye, Crystal Castles, MGMT, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Naked and Famous,
