Muppet Pastor - Doom & Bass EP
Muppet Pastor is a DJ/producer from Holland, Michigan. His works blend the realms of hard rock and hip hop, while incorporating many recent evolutions of EDM, such as dubstep and dnb. While there are some rather standard moments on his Doom & Bass EP, there are some spectacular songs worth checking out.
Don’t be steered away by the opener, as its the weakest track and doesn’t reflect the quality that follows. Greeting humans is as conventional as a drum and bass album gets, with some interesting complimentary sounds. The driving force is energetic, though its transverses through far too familiar grounds. The album quickly picks up with Polar Vortex (How Dare You?), a humerous track that utilises Greta Thunberg samples more tastefully than the mainstream media. Despite being a rather formulaic drum and bass song, the instrumentation is fresh and the variety within the mix is admirable. Mad As Hell (& I'm Not Gonna Take It Anymore) doesn’t use its sample as tastefully, as it relies on the entire speech from Network (1976) to progress. While the climatic dubstep sections are surprisingly fresh for the new decade, the accompanying verses are rather bland and devoid of energy. LOUDER (Devil's Work) is another rather formulaic song, but the sound design is impeccable. Muppet Pastor breathes fresh life into an oversaturated and abused genre, giving it much needed vigour and style. His production skill is at the top of the game. The last song in the tracklisting that relies on drum and bass conventions is The Implication – while it might not convert anyone unfamiliar with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, it will satisfy any fan.
The album begins to incorporate more elements of progression on Agent of Chaos, a song of immaculate sound design. Furthermore, It marks an excellent turning point in the album, in which Muppet Pastor breaks down the conventions of drum and bass to ridicule and playful deconstruct its elements. Angels vs Demons does this admirably well, with its demented percussion and stunning complementary keys. The song is on another level. Distinct instrumentation and well-crafted glitch electronica does much the same on Where We’re Going, especially as it infuses hard-rock elements. While the album returns to familiar grounds on Mad World, the closer charmingly ends the album. The second half is noticeably higher in quality than the first. That’s not to say the first half of the album is bad, it just pales in comparison to the zanier side of Muppet Pastor on the second half. Furthermore, the second half of the EP demonstrates there’s still many ideas to be explored within the genre.
One could only hope Muppet Pastor incorporates his own voice into his work in future – the reliance on samples, though while faultlessly utilised, make it sound less personal and slightly generic. If the artist could utilise these varied progressions and masterful production techniques with his own distinct voice, or perhaps a hired vocalist, he could easily dominate the genre. The meme angle may not be enough to differentiate him from the competition, though his talent is deserving of so much more. If broken down on the notepad, the only aspect Muppet Pastor pales in is innovation (with the exception of songs such as Angels vs Demons) – his sound design is unique, but it sticks a little too closely to the formula. His works exceed in all other aspects, however – the production and enjoyability factors being noteworthily high. Overall, the Doom & Bass EP is one impressive debut.
Really Good
Listen to it here:
Muppet Pastor - Doom & Bass EP
