Destroid is the dubstep equivalent of GWAR. Comprised by hyperbass producers Excision and Downlink with support on drums from KJ Sawka (formerly of Pendulum), the project has put much greater emphasis on their backstory and attire than their tunes. The Megatron-esque voice of “Raise Your Fist”, the lead track on their aptly-titled debut LP, The Invasion, describes their GWAR-meets-Transformers creation myth. Adding limited substance to a lyric-less album, aside from explaining why it’s littered with the amplified commotion of a NASCAR garage, the members of Destroid have come to Earth to save us from our leaders. And then possibly leave Earth a vast desert as described in “Wasteland”.
Despite being a member of the live outfit, Sawka is frustratingly absent from the release. Without the improvised breaks and syncopation that Sawka is capable of, the aesthetic is little different than that of Excision’s standards. Even the collaborations with Bassnectar (“Put It Down”) and Far Too Loud (“Annihilate”) do little more than add momentary shifts before Excision drops back into his comfort zone.
All road-tested during Excision’s recent tour, these are tracks meant to be experienced with significant amounts of light and subbass — effects most people won’t have while listening to the hip-hop edge of “Flip the Switch” or Ajapai’s electro vibe on “Blast Off” on their smartphones. Set to perform wearing “specially made armored suites,” Destroid is attempting to shock the crowd with an onslaught of bass and theatrics like never before. Factors that go a considerable way in selling tickets and albums to testosterone-fueled young adults.
If the genre does hope to expand outside of sideshows, it will be at the fingers of Space Laces; whose booty-bass twist on the bottom-end makes “Funk Hole” the carrot at the end of this violently quivering stick.
Essential Track: ”Funk Hole”
