Crate Exploratory: Distance-Beyond/Menace (New Dubstep on Chestplate)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 12:42AM 
Ever since the likes of Caspa and Mary Anne Hobbs introduced these tracks to the world late last year, the word has spread very quickly that longtime dubstep producer Distance had a major 2-tracker in the works. Released just a week ago on Chestplate Recordings, I had the chance to hear both tracks in their entirety for myself and can vouch that they are definitely worthy of some promotion on my end.
The A-side of this release, “Beyond”, transcends the everyday 5-minute dubstep record. Going beyond the cookie-cutter template that many tracks built for the dancefloor adhere to (across all forms of dance music), Beyond is a showstopper that demands the listener’s attention. Just as it did when I first heard it on Caspa’s Essential Mix from last fall. I’d like to consider myself a bit of humorous dude, yet even I think this one is a tear-jerker. I’d go so far as to call it an electronic version of a country song where the singer loses the love of his life, followed by his house, then his truck, then his chewing tobacco. Well, maybe not that far. But at least here we get the convenience of not having to listen to all the whiney lyrics! But seriously, the densely layered pads fit the rhythm of the song perfectly and although a somber piece, it’s extremely well put together. Beyond is probably best suited for home listening under headphones after a terrible day, but trust me, the sub bass is nestled in there, and will work just fine in the club. If the DJ just so happens to be having a bad day too.
Moving over to the flipside, we see Distance dabbing in one of his prime musical influences: metal. The overall sound and theme behind “Menace” is nothing new for Distance as he has brought in plenty of distorted guitar licks into his previous work, but it nicely illustrates (and re-enforces) his versatility as a producer. A casual listener would not normally associate something along the lines of Metallica with dubstep, however Distance has no problem whatsoever bringing both components together - without it sounding overly forceful or something akin to a throwaway novelty anthem. This is an attribute not every producer is capable of doing, and for that, I give the man props.
Chestplate is on a roll, this is their eighth release and they have a handful more slated for release very soon, both on vinyl and digitally!
Get the vinyl for Beyone/Menace here.
Many thanks to Alex from Surefire for getting in touch.
My rating for this release: 8/10



















