mentalEscape – Big Bang
mentalEscape – Big Bang – Album Review
Hellllllllll yeah!
I ain’t gonna lie, I get super apprehensive when I get two records submitted in fairly close two, and even more-so when I really dig the first one I end up reviewing. Similarly as to how it’s practically impossible to follow your best song on an album with another, when you hear a record that’s really, really damn good like mentalEscape’s Numb was, I had to wonder what the heck the guy was gonna do for an encore. Then I heard him kickin’ out the jams on “Own The Night” and all was right with the world again – I knew I’d be on solid ground. Somehow this dude is drawing from an endless well of incredible ideas, and he is certainly sounding inspired like never before this year, even as early as it is still in 2025. Is the rest of Big Bang gonna live up to the standards set out at the very start here with “Own The Night?” I mean…that’d be a mighty tall ask of any artist or band out there, because “Own The Night” is THAT good y’all…if you wanna get your party jumpin’ then this is track you’d wanna haul out to shift everything to the next level. Soon enough you’d have your neighbors and your neighbors’ neighbors bangin’ on the door to get in & get down…”Own The Night” is nothing short of sensational, and quite likely to be one of the most lively, vibrant & colorful tracks you’re going to hear on any record put out in 2025. Quote me on that! This is like listening to RJD2 at his finest…I’m loving the sheer array of sound and variety this first cut has – mentalEscape doesn’t just entice you into Big Bang, he blows the doors wide open for you to come inside.
Overall, you could certainly say that Big Bang sticks closer to the script of mentalEscape than what you’d likely think about Numb, but let’s be real here – that’s never gonna be a bad thing. I’m all for expanding on what you create, and I genuinely loved how Numb included vocals and all that, but make no mistake, what mentalEscape does within the digital realm when left to his own devices is always going to make for seriously badass entertainment. “Get In Loser” is a stellar reveal of how this dude’s instincts always lead him in the right direction…unique samples, outstanding sound selection, cutting edge technique – everything you want is in the mix, you feel me? From wicked scratches, to impressive stops & starts that flex innovative ideas, mentalEscape has been absolutely crushin’ it for me in 2025, and if you’ve been listening, then I’m sure you feel the exact same way. There are a few points along the way in Big Bang that had me questioning the inclusion of certain vocal samples along the way, but rest assured, this ain’t one of’em – I love everything about what I hear on “Get In Loser” and would put this track right up there with the best of the best on this album as well. Do I like it as much as I liked “Own The Night” at the very start? It’s mighty close…the answer is probably no, but I mean, we’re seriously splitting hairs here. “Get In Loser” is undeniable FUN and all-out entertainment that has mentalEscape holding nothing back.
“Unwind” comes out a bit quieter in the lineup in comparison to the first two tracks, but the production still jams with high quality. Tracks like this radiate entertainment and send it spillin’ from every pore of your speakers, and that’s what I’m looking for…I can resolve basic volume issues with my own damn hands when needed…and who knows, maybe I’m listening to this sideways or something. mentalEscape can do party music when he wants to really well, and even when he’s in that mode, you still can’t help but appreciate the art he brings to the craft through such expert assembly. “Unwind” has him more in his Crystal Method type of gear, but it’s a suit that he wears well, and I’m sure the people out there will listening this dip into accessibility. Do I agree with fade-outs to songs? Hell no! I was raised in the Grunge era y’all…you either bash your equipment into the dirt or leave things feeding back into a blissful oblivion, thank you very much. Anything other than that, you’ll also find in common with a Phil Collins song. Your choice y’all…always has been…always will be…make responsible decisions and choose wisely.
I’m probably a little less enthusiastic about “Balkan Jungle” – I dig the music for the most part I suppose, but the vocal samples seemed a bit too agro for me personally. mentalEscape is firing off with an ultra-aggressive energy overall on “Balkan Jungle” – and I can imagine people might be as split on this as I am. On the one hand, I love what I hear in the music…but to get to that, I gotta endure someone screaming at me, and if I wanted this kind of treatment, I’d likely have joined the army. Coming after a track like “Unwind” where the volume got slightly dialed back, kinda only makes “Balkan Jungle” seem like it wants to meet you on the playground at lunchtime to take your fucking lunch money…and I’ll be honest with ya, I need the milk for my growing bones. So…hmm…I mean, it’s like I always say, right? All you can ever do is things to the best of your abilities and let the chips fall where they may when it comes to the verdict in the court of public opinion. I never profess to have the only answer when it comes to what I hear – I’m just another opinion to add to the pile and a guy that’s willing to write those opinions down at length…but you still get to judge for yourselves. Maybe if “Balkan Jungle” came with some kind of wild action sequence in some kind of cross cultural action film like Monkey Man or something, I could see we might have a higher degree of tolerance acceptance for it, but here in the context of Big Bang, it’s by far the biggest bang of them all, and borderlines on being a bit of a chaotic choice to add to this lineup when there’s not too much else around on this album like it. It’s…jarring…that’s probably the kindest I can be when it comes to describing its intensity, making it EVER WEIRDER to choose to fade it out at the end. I get it, I get it, it’s harder to make Electro-based music feed back for an ending, and you don’t wanna smash your decks to do the Grunge thing. Well my friend, live by the sword & die by it too.
When you hear the smooth groove of “Swing Riot” and those meaty-ass bass lines, you’ll be thankful that this is the longest track on the record & that you get to spend some time with it. To be completely truthful with ya, I’m sure most of us are gonna appreciate that the in-your-faceness of “Balkan Jungle” is over with as well, because that was seriously a LOT to take in. “Swing Riot” is one of those undeniably accessible cuts that doesn’t seem like it wants to fuckin’ FIGHT YOU like “Balkan Jungle” just did – and I have the feeling that “Swing Riot” will reap the benefits of being a smoother groove in that regard. While I’d probably tell ya that mentalEscape likely had to put more time into the four tracks before “Swing Riot” based on everything that’s involved in the complexity of those opening cuts versus how much seems to naturally snap together here with a few less ingredients…I think that the end results speak strongly on behalf of how sometimes less is more. I might be way more excited about something like “Own The Night” personally, but I’d still recognize there’s likely more universal accessibility in a song like “Swing Riot,” and room for this track in just about every day you’re gonna listen to music. Love the scratches that mentalEscape threads into this track, and many on this record for that matter…there’s a real art to getting those in there the right way, and this dude has got the recipe for success in all that. “Swing Riot” on the whole though, is gonna be one of the tracks on this record that bonds us all together…as in, I don’t think it’ll just be me that has a high opinion of it, I think we’ll all come to the same conclusion that a track like this is truly essential listening, and that it’s one of the best on Big Bang.
“Let’s Roll” is a good tune. Let me be clear – a good tune on a mentalEscape album is probably a song that is a whole lot superior to those on most records out there, but having heard so much of this dude in a short space can take its toll too. As in, with some time and distance, maybe “Let’s Roll” might have made a bit more of an impact than it seemed to…right now, I’m inclined to say that this is the kind of cut that I’d never turn off, but it’s still not quite at the level that we find mentalEscape in at the start of this album either. Sometimes you get so familiar with what an artist or band is capable of, that you get to a track like “Let’s Roll” and you know that mentalEscape could fall out of bed and hit four of these kind of tunes on the way to the floor – that doesn’t make it a bad track by any stretch of the imagination, but it is something I’d assume is on the easier side of what he creates with the remarkable skillset he has. That being said, I’ve long commented on similar scenarios where I feel the choices we make are pretty clear…sometimes you just wanna make a song that sounds damn good from start to finish, and believe me, no one out there in their right mind is gonna complain about a flawless cut, not even me. So don’t get it twisted…all I’m saying is that “Let’s Roll” is likely pretty easy for an artist like mentalEscape to create when compared to many of the rest…I ain’t saying I’m not here to listen and turn this fucker UP! Some of the textures he’s threaded into “Let’s Roll” are significant highlights on the record, and he really knows how to make his music dynamic, alluring, and tight as tight can be when he’s not leaning towards a more experimental vibe. “Let’s Roll” is a safer tune in that regard perhaps, but it’s stellar to listen to.
“What Happened” gets a bit more exciting, but also becomes a bit more of a standard kind of DJ club cut with the sample it uses for the vocals. Music-wise, it’s practically all aces – even though I’d tell ya the real life in its veins comes in throughout its second minute. Personally, I’m relentlessly impressed by the attention to detail that mentalEscape pays to his music, pass or fail, the quality & consistency is always a part of what he creates…dude’s a genuine pro. Beyond that, we can’t choose poetry for every damn cut we’ll ever create, right? Sometimes you just gotta let loose and make a track for the club or to blow the roof off at the party you’re at, and use vocals that make a song about a song, you feel me? So if the beat is what you wanna highlight, and you wanna use a sample that emphasizes that beyond what we can already hear with our own ears, then have at’er hoss! No harm, no foul…I get it…sometimes we’re so into what we do, we just wanna shout out the moment itself…there are no rules and there’s nothing wrong with doing that. Is it narcissistic to write about music as it’s still being made? Again, I ain’t here to judge…I’d tell you that it’s still gonna be a better theme than another song about chicks and cars. I enjoy the occasional cut like “What Happened,” because whereas we might look at it as a bit strange that a song would take time to clarify what it is we like about it, at the same time, you kind of have to acknowledge that it’s an expression of exactly what we’re all feeling too. The beat in “What Happened” is pretty damn killer and deserves to get its shout-out…so like…I mean, it makes a logical type of sense.
I had to laugh out loud when I got to the title of “Not That Bad” – because that’s what we’re all aiming for, right? Who the hell wants to be good or achieve greatness anyway? Let’s all commit to being “Not That Bad” and perhaps we can start moving the needle collectively in the right direction. I’ll say this, it’s really “not that awful” and for the minute & thirty-seven seconds that it runs for, probably packs in more entertainment per square sonic inch than most. I’ve got no notes here…I’m sure I would have taken another two or three minutes of “Not That Bad” if mentalEscape felt so inclined, but alas, here we are – we get 1:37 of it, and that’s all. I enjoy it at the length that it’s at, and I suppose I get where he was coming from in keeping this as short as it is. Don’t get it twisted, there’s some real kickassery goin’ on in here that could have definitely led him down the right path to extend this out if he wanted to, but I’ll admit, he likely made the right call in keeping this cut tight to its nearly-ninety seconds and wrapping it up. Having said that, every time “Not That Bad” came on in rotation, my love for this cut never faded.
Most of the tracks on this record really feel like they belong in this set – I think “Balkan Jungle” is the only cut that stands out to me as being a little out of place in comparison to the rest surrounding it. “Anxious Phantoms” is likely a bit closer to the fence in that regard, but I’m cool with it being a part of Big Bang. You’ll find a colder, mod-style/New Wave approach to the vocal samples included, which does give this particular track a much different feel than the others, but if we’re talkin’ about the music itself, “Anxious Phantoms” still felt like it fit this album well enough. mentalEscape’s production on this cut felt like it made even better use of the dynamics between the lefts and the rights…it could be the way I’m hearing it, but it felt like there was more movement there, and I dig that kind of surround sound effect it has when tracks are produced like that. It’s definitely beat-focused…the rest of what you’ll hear is like a sidenote on the rest of what’s happening, even the vocals to an extent. “Anxious Phantoms” gets dangerously close to something Andy Samberg would use for a parody in an SNL skit with its rigidly defined style, but clearly mentalEscape intended to make this for more serious purposes. I dunno…I suppose I look at it like this – there are other tracks, most of’em in fact, that speak more strongly on behalf of what mentalEscape brings to the scene, as opposed to something like “Anxious Phantoms” that leans more into the guy trying out a certain style of sound that’s more similar to stuff we’ve heard in some way, shape, or form before – make sense? So again, the quality itself doesn’t drop when it comes time to record, but it does end up feeling like this could have been created by a few artists out there, which makes it less tangible to identify “Anxious Phantoms” being a part of the mentalEscape catalog overall.
Wrapping it up with “Annebel,” mentalEscape gives you a thirty-second intro or so before switching it up and dropping the heat on ya. A little quieter in this last cut as well, similar to how things sounded on “Unwind” earlier on…again, it’s not too much of a factor, but by the same token, artists like mentalEscape strive to deliver a complete experience, and sometimes it can be little details like volume issues that take us out of the moment & snap us back into the bitterness of reality. Quality-wise, the dude never has any issues…he’s a master of production and knows exactly how to get the best out of his material, and when you consider how much goes into it, it’s nothing but impressive. Give “Annebel” and “Unwind” a slight bump on the volume & I’d say the consistency that mentalEscape is looking for would certainly be there…and maybe take “Balkan Jungle” down a notch, though I’m not all that convinced anything he could do is gonna make that particular track any less in our face. The rest is pretty solid stuff, and “Annebel” puts the cherry on top of what’s been another fully entertaining set. Listen to that spot just past the two-minute mark will ya? Good lord that’s killer yo! Solid punch back into the groove when mentalEscape shifts things back…”Annebel” and I are all good y’all, this track was another genuine highlight before the album finished up. Big Bang packs in a diverse set of entertainment, which by definition is going to have moments that hit higher points than others as it plays on…and heck, I might even tell ya it’s a little on the frontloaded side of the scenario with “Own The Night” and “Get In Loser” coming atcha as the first two tracks you’ll hear…but the midsection is strong, and “Annebel” finished off the record in style on a cut that does everything it needed to in order to entice you in for another round.
Find more music by mentalEscape at Apple Music here: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/mentalescape/301901856
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