New Release: Reptiles EP – Dark Minimal (Free thru October!)

I am very excited to bring you my latest record – Reptiles EP – published independently by yours truly, and available on BandCamp FOR FREE through October 31st!

Reptiles EP is a four-track collection of dark, minimal grooves featuring deep atmospheres, grimy pianos, and unnerving spoken samples dealing with unhinged conspiracy theories. Starting fairly grounded with Divide And Rule, the record steadily descends into deeper, darker abstraction, culminating in Four Shadows – the deepest track on the record.

Perfect for some Halloween sets!

The Tracks

Divide And Rule is as upbeat as this record gets. It features a groovy bass line tucked into thick kicks and abstract synth stabs and pads. Acoustic snare hits and micro-fills also help ground the track and move it forward.

Reptiles (Original Mix) is actually my second pass at creating this track (the first version wound up getting scrapped). This one takes the vibe a few steps deeper with a steady, ostinato bass and woozy, sprawling, understated synths.

Reptiles (New Darkness Mix) is the original mix stripped down and reworked into an insistent bounce of a dark groove. The thick, grimy bass does much of the heavy lifting in this one, and a dissonant, dirty piano winds in and out – an unsettling harmony over the relentless bounce of the bottom end.

Four Shadows represents the depths of this dive into the black. It is composed of yawning atmospheres, dissonant pianos, and a kick groove accentuated by deep sub bass hits.

The Inspiration

This record actually started at the end. After working on Mantra with Xavalex and Mementos after that, I decided I wanted return to exploring darker atmospheres. Four Shadows was the first track to come together. When that was completed, I scanned through shelved projects to see if I had an idea that would complement it. That was when I found the unfinished first version of Reptiles.

It caught my attention because I had used a sample from the same David Icke interview I had used in Four Shadows. I wound up scrapping that initial idea in favor of what would become the original mix of Reptiles.

I thought that the David Icke interview where he talks about several of his theories concerning the British royal family and the global reptilian conspiracy would be a great accent to a darker record, so I wound up creating one more track – Divide And Rule.

Finally, I wanted one more track to round out the EP. I decided to rework Reptiles to sit a bit closer to Four Shadows, and to bridge the gap between the more accessible first two tracks and the more abstract Four Shadows. Thus, the New Darkness mix came to be, the track sequence solidified, and the record got its title.

I hope you enjoy this collection of tracks as much as I enjoyed making them. Be sure to pick up your copy for spooky season – it’s going to be free on BandCamp through October 31st!

Thanks for listening – Happy Halloween!

-AudioMunk