Respecta.is - The Ultimate Hip Hop Portal

Vex’d are a legendary duo. Their 2005 album "Degenerate” was one of the first and most successful dubstep long players and remains to this day one of the most respected. It bravely re-wrote the rulebook and is lauded for establishing a new template for the dubstep sound, beyond it's roots in 2-step & uk garage skipiness, bringing in the influences of techstep jungle, breaks and apocalyptic noir soundscapes, putting them to use in dubstep’s ‘bass and drums at a 140 bpm’ setting, with results that were never less than astounding.

“Cloud Seed” is a follow up of sorts to that album. Selected from original music intended for the second album plus rarely heard remixes from the same era and expertly sequenced to flow like a full album, it’s an addendum to the career of Vex’d (who rarely work together anymore), made from the best of their work.

Though one might be tempted to think “Cloud Seed” is an album of unfinished sketches, the result will confound that expectation. It is in fact an incredible album in it’s own right. Made with Blake’s apocalyptic vision of London in mind, it’s atmospheric with an ear for a cinematic intensity that rivals Burial, and a complex darkness that rivals the Bug. It contrasts light and dark, the rough and the sophisticated to amazing effect, drawing you in for repeated listens. The album also features a small selection of guests, from “Warrior Queen” (best known for her work with the Bug), to the relatively unknown, yet fantastic “Anneka” and “Jestonesart” from New York MC collective the Atoms family.

If you’re wondering why it’s taken 5 years for a sequel to “Degenerate” to appear then Jamie Teasdale, one half of the group alongside Roly Porter has the last word: