Credit: Gud Vibrations
Prediction Affliction
[By: Leotrix]
Genre: Riddim, Future riddim
Rating: 65
Cohesiveness: 60
Track quality: 65
Beginner-friendly? not really, no
Written 2026/05/23
Always exercising his willingness to produce the more offbeat dubstep cuts, Leotrix brings a melodic flavour to his debut album.
The youthful Australian talent has not gone unnoticed through his years in the bass scene. He's worked with producers bigger and meaner than him, prodigies like IMANU and veterans like Coki, but he's not yet let down his own unique flair that lies in his artistry, continuing in experimentation. Crushing riddim cuts, crunchy bass expulsions, and yet Prediction Affliction is, indeed, still infused with a melodic flavour.
That melodic flavour, of course, not without its own heavy outbursts. After the optimistic opener "Crush", the record's trajectory takes up a much stompier signature through "KOMBINI" and "Fighter Pilot" and even the faux-melodic "Florida", but, broadly speaking, Prediction Affliction indulges in its bright, optimistic future-riddim melodies even more than it does the genre's rhythm. For the most part it works: upbeat songwriting permeates even the spaciest of breakdowns and offdrop mixes, flourishing more fully in cuts like "Dub For Moving On" that lean on those melodies to make themselves work. Perhaps the heavier mixes suffer more, but as far as melodic elements go, Prediction Affliction maintains itself as, to some degree, a melody-driven record.
Variety is no problem either. Between the drum n bass ripper of "Reminder" and the thumping hard dance of "Preach", or a couple of particularly strong house cuts thrown into the dubstep soundstage, Leotrix patches up his debut album with enough alternative genres to bring Prediction Affliction away from a stale riddim record.
I suppose the keyword there is 'enough'. It's just enough. Though some of the tracks can certainly be considered experimental, or left-field, or even novel, this album doesn't really assert itself as more than just 'enough'. There's some quirky sound design here, some very fun synthwork and some stabs at buoyancy that stab through the heavier undertones, but it only makes it as far up as 'enough'.
Though the meter is a little skewed. Most of the ideas are intriguing and fresh, but only some make it through. Prediction Affliction can often hold quite harsh mixes or insubstantial atmospheres to reinforce the drops, and whilst they sound intentionally made, the tracks still suffer. It's not that Leotrix isn't trying to properly flesh out his ideas, it's just unfortunate that a lot of them don't make it through the curtain of what could have otherwise been a brilliant record. Of course, with little to tie this album together, the wonky melodic sounds of Prediction Affliction aren't adhesive enough to maintain a hold over the tracklist. Where it sticks, it sticks like superglue - perhaps it's a top-heavy record, and perhaps it doesn't hold Leotrix's most impressive body of work, but when the vibrant "Age Of Aquarius" rolls in, or the bright and unabashed "Lost" (with its glimmering future-riddim stabs and drawling vocal) pokes at the spotlight, Prediction Affliction has its moments in the green. It barely misses the evergreen, but it misses nevertheless; still it would be unjust to call it a poor record.
I think, often, my rating scale suffers from 'rating inflation' - and the concluding paragraph of Leotrix's Prediction Affliction is perhaps a bit of a bizarre place to mention this, I appreciate - in that I'm giving a record like this what is perceived to be a relatively middling score, even despite my respect for it. It's not a negative analysis, to be clear, but rest assured Prediction Affliction is worth your time if you wish it to be. It may not be an album with a particularly strong foundation, and ideas alone are what Leotrix's debut album thrives on, but they can posit some pretty good ones.
Listen on Spotify here.
Crush
Leotrix opens with a punchy, almost French-house-esque cut (though that may be a stretch), with shimmering synths and a strong, shifting lead. It's pretty short, but it does the job, and it sounds very good both as an opener and as a track in of itself.
KOMBINI
w/ eliderp
"KOMBINI" seems kind of nasty at first glance, but the atonal riddim lead grows out of itself pretty quickly - both in its atonality and its rhythm. The builds are good, but the offdrops are unfortunately shortlived, and "KOMBINI" has run out of ideas by the second drop.
Fighter Pilot
The mix suffers a little bit, but "Fighter Pilot" is brash enough (helped considerably by its sampling) to be thoroughly engaging throughout. The lead sound in the drops is very harsh but its staggered rhythm permeates even the atmospheres that prop up the rest of the track.
Florida
Melodically, this cut begins as a very fun one, and it continually refluxes. The sudden heavy switch sounds good in a vaccuum, but as it continues to grow, so does the tonal whiplash that follows it, and that tonal whiplash is surprisingly noticeable, especially as Leotrix tries to mix the melody back in. Some great ideas here, though.
Age Of Aquarius
It's not clear as to where "Age Of Aquarius" is going from its intro, but Leotrix's decision to release it into a bubbly, low house tune feels tasteful, especially as its sound design evolves in a linear, progressive manner.
Dub For Moving On
I absolutely love the ideas presented here - "Dub For Moving On" stays true to its title, playing out a very upbeat, almost emotive riddim structure. The bright, melodic lead is counterbalanced by the swelling bass underneath, even if the mix is a little unnecessarily harsh.
Preach
Punchy as it is, "Preach" goes for a hard dance idea I'm not a huge fan of. The 'Leotrix' tag feels a little shoehorned, though understandable, and the simplicity of the sound design is crunchy but lacks compared to the rest of the album (and even the other sections of this track).
Cooler Phase
It rumbles and it pushes through, and its lead sound is very spacey but gets old fast. This cut doesn't really change much throughout, and the background wub slowly becomes stale. It doesn't help that it finishes in nearly the exact same way it start.
Pixel Steppa
Immediately this cut establishes itself as one of the heavier, more striking ones on the record thus far. Leotrix pulls no punches, and the track is subsequently pressurized and stabby, but the abrasive mixing is a little too much, with the emptier breakdowns not quite doing their job to prop up the intensity. The more minimal second drop is a nice idea, but muddy.
Lost
w/ Dassim
The vocal is easily the highlight of "Lost", and Leotrix reinforces it with a clean melodic riddim accompaniment. It's stabby and rhythmically very sensible, feeling slower and more paced-out. The producer tags are a little corny, but other than that, "Lost" flows very well.
Reminder
As we approach the final section of the record, Leotrix swaps into another bright track with a bit of crunch to it. He then fully switches it up into a jump-up-styled DnB track, with its flurry of melodic leads frantically climbing over each other through the stutters. Great ideas, but overall quite messy.
Wifey
Another surprise here - "Wifey" fronts a jazz sensibility and drawn-out, wistful vocal. But it quickly capitulates, with the introduction of the meaty sub that feels entirely detached from the rest of the track, and the subsequent four-on-the-floor drop. Ultimately it feels a little all-over-the-place, perhaps owing to its shorter runtime, but there are good ideas nevertheless.
Following Stars
As far as album closers go, this one is very easy to miss. The vocal is more wistful than "Wifey", but fades into the rest of the mix, which presents a more ambient and sparkling soundscape before introducing a fairly simple beat. Again, it fades away as quickly as it comes.
- Dub For Moving On
- Age Of Aquarius
- Crush
- Lost w/ Dassim
- Fighter Pilot
- Florida
- Reminder
- Preach
- Pixel Steppa
- Wifey
- KOMBINI w/ eliderp
- Following Stars
- Cooler Phase