Sleeping Bag Studios

Top Menu

  • Get Written Interviews
  • Get Album Reviews
  • Get Video Interviews
  • Get More…

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Music Reviews
  • Interviews
  • SBS Network
    • SBS Readers Poll: Wall of Fame
    • SBS Podcast
    • Special Reports
    • The Bearded Blog
    • SBS Live This Week
  • 2018 SBS Readers Poll
  • Online Services
    • Music Reviews
    • Written Interviews
    • Band Biography
    • Album Art
    • Press Releases
    • Audio Interviews
    • Video Interviews
    • Music Videos
    • Promo Videos
    • Lyric Videos
    • Spoken Word
    • More…
  • Contact
  • Get Written Interviews
  • Get Album Reviews
  • Get Video Interviews
  • Get More…

logo

Header Banner

Sleeping Bag Studios

  • Home
  • Music Reviews
  • Interviews
  • SBS Network
    • SBS Readers Poll: Wall of Fame
    • SBS Podcast
    • Special Reports
    • The Bearded Blog
    • SBS Live This Week
  • 2018 SBS Readers Poll
  • Online Services
    • Music Reviews
    • Written Interviews
    • Band Biography
    • Album Art
    • Press Releases
    • Audio Interviews
    • Video Interviews
    • Music Videos
    • Promo Videos
    • Lyric Videos
    • Spoken Word
    • More…
  • Contact
  • Delusive Relics – Chaotic Notions

  • Kalel – “Wave”

  • Dionne Blaize – “Girls Nite”

  • Color School – Close Enough To Fix

  • Angel Boy – “Retrograde”

  • Beauty For Ashes – Demos

  • Jake Inzerra – “Fashion Of Love”

  • Labán – “Quién da Más”

  • Bobby Bofman – Maybe Today

  • Bobby Bofman – Happy Rhythm

  • Montaz – “Fuck Ya’ll”

Music Reviews
Home›Music Reviews›D-Noise – Hellraiser

D-Noise – Hellraiser

By Jer@SBS
February 3, 2019
57
0
Share:
D-Noise – Hellraiser

D-Noise – Hellraiser – EP Review

Retrowave!  Count me in.

It’s kind of funny really…I’m not actually sure just how many people would list Retrowave as their favorite genre, but you’d be extremely hard-pressed to ever find someone that doesn’t dig it.  Many people out there would have it in their top-ten for sure if they thought about all the different kinds of music out there, or could look at some sort of a musical-menu or list to help them remember what kind of selection exists.  If anything, though it’s based in old-school sounds, it’s the victim of being a newer genre and likely just doesn’t come to people’s minds when Rock, Pop, Alternative etc. are so easy to recall, but I can tell ya based on firsthand experience, just about everyone out there loves good Retrowave if they can find it.

For the rest of you that don’t know where to look & listen, that’s why we exist here.  I’ll help you out and point you towards some excellent new stuff happening out of Russia, D-Noise’s latest EP called Hellraiser.  Full of dark-alley atmospheres and powerfully rhythmic sounds, D-Noise creates wild moods and music to groove to throughout the four songs in the Hellraiser EP – these are wild & murky tunes that could easily slide right into the soundtrack of your life & fit into it everywhere you can imagine.

“Midnite Fantasy” snaps into its flashy & bouncy sound quickly, establishing that true Retrowave vibe immediately and enticing us in as the seconds tick by with subtle changes to the music that keep us locked into Hellraiser’s first cut.  The energy is excellent, the drums keep the movement flowing long & strong…the programming & performance is as tight as the production, and the structure & ideas themselves are of equal caliber – you gotta dig what’s happening here.  Strap your headphones on and turn this UP – then go storm the mall or march on the capital…you get the idea…music like this could inspire your days in countless ways.  The mix on “Midnite Fantasy” has sparkling clarity from the lefts to the rights…D-Noise is playing within an extremely vibrant & colorful palette of sound and makes the most of every moment in this first introduction to his brand-new EP.  It’s got a misty & mythical beginning that quickly snaps into full clarity and riotously rhythmic rad good time, setting the stage for the powerful pulses and melody in the layers on top to shift & move the sounds around throughout its five-minutes in length.  Inarguably a perfectly solid beginning and gateway into the Hellraiser EP.

As many times as I’ve spun through this record, I kept coming back to “Spirit Of The Night” as potentially my own personal favorite of the bunch.  I think that for the people out there, there’s probably another cut or two that would hit that mark of accessibility a bit quicker than this second tune…but that’s pretty much like splitting hairs – if you like one of D-Noise’s cuts, you’re safe to assume you’ll like’em all.  There was just something about the atmosphere of “Spirit Of The Night” that really contained that menace & mayhem in the atmosphere like a complete pro.  The switch around the 2:20 mark is as deadly as it gets – that low-end sound is built of pure shadows and darkened hearts – absolutely killer to listen to.  Might very well be my favorite transition on this entire record, which might explain why this track seemed to continually appeal to me just slightly more than the rest…not entire sure truthfully.  I suppose it just feels like “Spirit Of The Night” puts its boots on and sets forth to stomp your village with zero sympathy from the moment it starts to the moment it ends…you can’t blame me for digging a vibe like this.  Excellent atmosphere from beginning to end…you can feel “Spirit Of The Night” crawl under your skin at times, hang hauntingly in the air surrounding you at others, and all the while, D-Noise is expertly shifting the sound towards the devilish finale that this second tune goes on to find.  Really smart inclusion of the guitar notes in the final minute or so as well…like all things, D-Noise uses it in just the right doses, small increments that you truly notice when they’re added into the mix…the man’s got great style & abilities.

“Hellraiser,” the EP’s title-track, also gets savagely wicked with the gnarly low-end synth providing the extra teeth this cut bites into you with.  The choices being made by D-Noise are noteworthy; he keeps it classic & old-school like The Commodore 64, but still finds ways to push his music into relevant directions that people are sure to love right in the here & now.  Like a great riff from a guitar, the synth-line that delivers the main hook of “Hellraiser” is one that an artist couldn’t possibly let go of – you’ll know exactly what I mean when you hear it.  You’ll know it, I’ll know it – you KNOW D-Noise knows it, cause he takes it for a real ride on this four plus-minute track…it’s simple, but highly effective.  Again, if you look at a lot of what’s happening out there in music right now, it’s not being overcomplicated, it’s finding the right parts that genuinely make an impact and connect when they come up in the song – that’s the kind of control that D-Noise continually displays strongly throughout his material on Hellraiser.  This title cut, with its more tangibly dance-inducing movements, shifts D-Noise more towards something like Linus Loves or Dada Life on “Hellraiser” – but as I’ve said many times, that for me, is a good thing.

After what’s been an impressive ride throughout this entire EP, D-Noise innovates his sound even further, taking up the intensity & melody of “Impulse” storming into a brilliant & skillfully assembled finale for Hellraiser.  In my mind…there’s an argument to be made that he MIGHT have saved the very best for last – but truthfully, my ears know the differences between how much I enjoy each of these cuts is very, very slight at best – the man’s done a completely solid job on this set of four tunes.  Highly entertaining and massively engaging the entire time, “Impulse” perhaps brings us out of the dark a bit more in comparison to the other three tunes through the inclusion of brighter melodies on the surface…that might be what gives this final track a degree or two more of accessibility when it comes to what the people will latch onto.  It could be the increased intensity of the movement in the main melody-lines, the fantastically atmospheric breakdown mid-song, the brilliant snap-back into the energy as it comes back surging from the quiet into a final two-minutes of electro-frenzy – there’s a ton to love about “Impulse” and the way it’s been structured to deliver pure audio entertainment at all times.  Combined with the versatility in sound, you get imaginative melody, bendy synth-lines, and relentlessly dynamic rhythms continually flexing compelling movements that’ll completely pull you right in to listen.

Extremely strong set of tracks that reveals a real leader out there in the Retrowave sound – find out more about D-Noise by visiting his official page at Facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/DNoiseOfficial

TagsD-NoiseEPHellraiser
Previous Article

0207 – Man Made Lake (Live @ ...

Next Article

The Marica Frequency – When Things Fall ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Jer@SBS

"I’m passionate about what I do, and just as passionate about what YOU do. Together, we can get your music into the hands of the people that should have it. Let’s create something incredible."

Related articles More from author

  • Peak Arrival – Way Up
    Music Reviews

    Peak Arrival – Way Up

    June 23, 2016
    By Jer@SBS
  • Lockjaw Smile – The Jester
    Music Reviews

    Lockjaw Smile – The Jester

    August 30, 2016
    By Jer@SBS
  • Matteo Ranieri – Authenticity
    Music Reviews

    Matteo Ranieri – Authenticity

    October 8, 2016
    By Jer@SBS
  • WALL OF FAME: Best New Sound of 2018 – This Is Decibel
    Music Reviews

    This Is Decibel – Take The Life

    April 4, 2018
    By Jer@SBS
  • A Truth Called Nothing – Old Hits 2: More Old Hits
    Music Reviews

    A Truth Called Nothing – Old Hits 2: More Old Hits

    February 13, 2019
    By Jer@SBS
  • Lauren Kaur Dhamu – Only Human
    Music Reviews

    Lauren Kaur Dhamu – Only Human

    March 14, 2015
    By Jer@SBS

Check this out!

  • SBS Podcast EP 017
    SBS Podcast

    SBS Podcast EP 017

  • SBS Live This Week 030
    SBS Live This Week

    SBS Live This Week 030

Find us on Facebook

Recent Posts

Interviews

Steven Lewis Malski

Interview with Steven Lewis Malski SBS:  Steve! Thanks so much for joining us here at the pages! From everything I’ve read, you’re a musician as well as a whole bunch ...
  • Rayko

    Rayko

    By Jer@SBS
    September 26, 2018
  • Steven Dunn

    Steven Dunn

    By Jer@SBS
    September 12, 2018
  • Amaru

    Amaru

    By Jer@SBS
    July 28, 2018
  • Roman Kharkovsky

    Roman Kharkovsky

    By Jer@SBS
    May 29, 2018

Listen Up!

Online Promotions

GET IN THE BAG!

logo
We are people who have dedicated their lives to music in every aspect. From our incredible writing & promotion to our SBS Live This Week!

Follow us

  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Delusive Relics – Chaotic Notions

    Delusive Relics – Chaotic Notions

    By Jer@SBS
    February 18, 2019
  • Kalel - "Wave"

    Kalel – “Wave”

    By Jer@SBS
    February 18, 2019
  • Dionne Blaize - "Girls Nite"

    Dionne Blaize – “Girls Nite”

    By Jer@SBS
    February 18, 2019
  • Color School – Close Enough To Fix

    Color School – Close Enough To Fix

    By Jer@SBS
    February 17, 2019
  • Keith Richie – Ambient Highways

    Keith Richie – Ambient Highways

    By Jer@SBS
    August 24, 2015
  • SBS 2015 Reader's Poll

    SBS 2015 Reader’s Poll

    By Jer@SBS
    December 1, 2015
  • Xavier Toscano – Feels So Good

    Xavier Toscano – Feels So Good

    By Jer@SBS
    December 29, 2014
  • The Results Of YOUR Vote For Our BEST NEW SOUND Of 2014!

    The Results Of YOUR Vote For Our BEST NEW SOUND Of 2014!

    By Jer@SBS
    January 1, 2015

    Follow us on Twitter

    Tweets by @sleepingbagrec
    © 2019 SleepingBagStudios   |  Website built by Fireball8 Design - www.fireball8.com