The last three years have seen VCTRE stake an audacious claim within the underground bass community. The vicious, punk veneer across his music has made him a fast rising star amongst his contemporaries, earning him prime slots across numerous festivals, showcases and concerts, as well as a rapidly growing, flamboyant fan base. He’s brought his production and engineering chops to new heights across the last year especially, culminating in the full-spectrum album Palindrome.

The earthy grit featured in VCTRE productions takes on new dimensions in Palindrome as he pushes his sound design chops towards wider horizons. The amalgam of styles and moods on the album is a testament to his evolving compositional perspective, with some of the most standout tracks in the collection also being the least imposing. While plenty of guttural distortion and massive stereo compression find a home in the latter half of the release, the first half features an abundance of downbeat, chilled-out tunes, fully equipped with VCTRE’s trademarked, speaker-blasting textures. It’s a noteworthy combination, given that so much of his catalog thus far has focused on the brawny end of bass music. 

Of particular note are the tracks “Human Eel” and “Morning Sky”; side by side, they best capture and display the depth of character featured across Palindrome. With its ungulant, viscous stabs and syncopated arrangement structure, every burst of low end in “Human Eel” responds to a bend in the frequency spectrum. What carries itself primarily as a gun slinging, half-time saunter quietly and impressively transforms into a skewed full time breakdown to close out the track. It’s the kind of composition that flexes the full potency of VCTRE’s patented aural aggression while simultaneously pushing his envelope beyond its traditional edge.

“Morning Sky” takes the attitude of Palindrome in an entirely unique direction, wielding a classic 4x4 beat accentuated by swelling pads and brooding atmospheres. It’s industrial and lucid, and the minimalist production allows for each aspect of the track to shine clearly through the mix. Sky Swift makes an appearance with her flangered, saturated vocals, adding a fresh breath of life into the veins of the song. Soft edges and acute harmonies put her at the center of the arrangement, giving the direct, austere dance floor tune a warm glow and an infectious bite.

2019 saw VCTRE rise with meteoric velocity, and the fanfair is well earned. He’s separated himself from the pack through intuitive, potent production skills and a knack for redeveloping his sound at every turn. He’s staked his claim onstage across the United States, blasting through the festival and touring circuits with few signs of an impending slowdown. As we enter 2020, the landscape of bass music is bound to change as it always has. Of the few constants we can guarantee, VCTRE’s continued dominance of his niche is certainly one of them.

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