Credit: Crowsnest
The Lovecraftian Horrors
[By: Code: Pandorum]
Genre: Deathstep
Rating: 85
Cohesiveness: 89
Track quality: 70
Beginner-friendly? don't even think about it
Written 2024/08/26
This is it. This is the dubstep avant garde.
Drawing direct inspiration from prominent horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, "The Lovecraftian Horrors" is no joke. Code: Pandorum (aka INHUMAN) has established himself as a strong deathstep artist and a prolific album writer over the years, pushing his dark, gritty brand of deathstep amongst some of the best in the scene. And out of all the albums in his massive catalogue, this one might just be the most 'out there'. Standing at a staggering 28-track-long tracklist, "The Lovecraftian Horrors" is an album to be reckoned with. There is absolutely zero care for theatrics, or pizzazz, or cinematics, and Code: Pandorum makes that very very clear. It's not just 28 tracks; it's 28 tracks of facemelting, raw, harsh, unrelenting deathstep that gives you very little time to think and even less time to steel your ears before plunging into this screaming world of horrors. Yes, the intro track "Ink" may not seem like much, but it's a false precedent, and the rest of the album follows a very simple formula — a simple offdrop, a simple buildup, and the most twisted, heaviest drop possible — and it just keeps on giving. There's no technical mastery, there's no heed to any stylistic switchups, only the menacing, crushing bass and the everpresent sinister atmosphere that perpetuates the entire project in horror-inspired vocal samples and eerie sound design choices. And though the sampling can be a tad cheesy in places, it's mixed in well in other places, and in others still it can be downright provocative and unsettling (in both a good and a bad way) — besides, it doesn't even matter, really, because all is forgotten when Code: Pandorum works his devastating black magic in the drop sections. "The Lovecraftian Horrors" is an album that knows what it is, and does what it does, and there's nothing you can do about it but listen in awe and fear.
Though, just because it's so unique, "The Lovecraftian Horrors" doesn't get to escape a criticism of its repetitiveness. 2 hours long of the same shockingly loud deathstep style? Granted, there are a few switchups, like the DnB of "Neo" or the trap of "Deadly Dolls", but the vast majority of it is the same stabby, abrasive, or otherwise heavy deathstep. I suspect the concept would suffer from having more diversity, but there is a point in the album where my ears stop working and succumb to the endless onslaught of sonic turmoil. It's difficult to ignore the fact that what Code: Pandorum has produced here is undoubtedly impressive, but it's not without a few inevitable flaws.
Listen on Spotify here.
Ink [Dark] | (/100)
Minimalistic intro track with by-the-books spooky sound design, but a very cool beat nonetheless
The Lovecraftian Horrors [Standout] | (/100)
Warped vocal sample that is mixed well into a hard buildup and a harder drop
Dungeon [Intense] | (/100)
w/ Qoiet
Plucky offdrop with some string instrumentation, more sinister samples, and weirdly disjointed drops; kind of annoying
Cthulhu [Heavy] | (/100)
Fantastic ominous offdrop with big kicks — plus another neat vocal sample — with a stabby drop
Paralysis [Heavy] | (/100)
w/ FaceSplit
Nice little fakeout, and then a wall of bass hits you. Love the idea, sound design could use some work
Dagon [Standout] | (/100)
Cinematic offdrop with neat offdrops, a crazy buildup and I cannot understate how cool this pausey drop is
Death Awakens [Intense] | (/100)
w/ TenGraphs
Screaming drop with plenty of flow switches, paired with dubstep kicks and and a guitar in the offdrop
From Beyond [Standout] | (/100)
Intricate first movement that explodes into a facemelting, fluctuating drop
Severed [Heavy] | (/100)
w/ Aimless
Eerie vocal sample and a pre-drop screamo that leads into a bass-filled drop which doesn't change much
Phantasm [Dark] | (/100)
Prominent beat and a huge heavy drop with mildly frightening samples and production choices
The Sickness [Intense] | (/100)
Interesting progression through the first section and an extremely growly drop with an insane switchup
Dunwich [Standout] | (/100)
Not big on the sample, but the buildup is polished and the drop has this insane compressed lead sound that pretty much carries the track
Madness [Heavy] | (/100)
w/ MVRDA
Relentless stabby drop with metallic sound design — a little too abrasive, but it holds up
Snuff [Dark] | (/100)
Genuinely unsettling vocal samples that did make me a little uncomfortable, even if the drop is absolutely mad
De-Void [Heavy] | (/100)
w/ Digitist
Pretty cool bassline in the offdrops, but unfortunately I don't like the mixing in the drops and they feel a little directionless
Insane [Standout] | (/100)
Crazy stabby drop which is nice and fast-paced, and extremely intense
The Abyss [Heavy] | (/100)
w/ Subtronics
Growly, punchy and hard-hitting, with some typical Subtronics sound design and some more minimal mixing
Neo [Switchup] | (/100)
Almost cinematic builds, with an absolutely wild drumstep drop that flies all over the place, and a massive second drop
Resistance [Standout] | (/100)
w/ Villain!
Definitely cinematic builds, with a notable lead sound that stands out amongst all the sustains of the drop
Leech [Intense] | (/100)
Wall-of-noise drops with distorted elements — this is getting pretty repetitive at this point, but not bad
Atheist's Cookbook [Dark] | (/100)
Massive metallic sound design in the drops, but yeah, my ears have gone numb
Delusion [Heavy] | (/100)
Explosive balls-to-the-walls drops that just keep on hitting and hitting and WHAT is that outro, I hate that outro (though it somehow helps the transition lol)
Call for Help [Intense] | (/100)
w/ Hi I'm Ghost
Cinematic, action-like intro with a shifting drop and some really clean production/songwriting choices
The Lurking Fear [Standout] | (/100)
Great lead melody over some really damn thick sustains, and a nice techno switchup to boot
Blasphemy [Dark] | (/100)
w/ D-Jahsta
Another genuinely jarring vocal sample that puts me off a little — has some cool fakeouts though
Deadly Dolls [Dark] | (/100)
Crunchy bassline that takes the spotlight for most of the track, oscillating behind some occassional leads
Overseers [Switchup] | (/100)
w/ Bratkilla
Crazy breakbeat switchup which I appreciate a lot, but the mixing is, to me, a little questionable and unclear
Indifferent [Standout] | (/100)
w/ L.U.X
Punchy, destructive finale that doesn't add much to the album but serves as a polished finisher
- Dagon (/100)
- Neo (/100)
- Call for Help w/ Hi I'm Ghost (/100)
- Dunwich (/100)
- Insane (/100)
- Ink (/100)
- The Lovecraftian Horrors (/100)
- Resistance w/ Villain! (/100)
- Deadly Dolls (/100)
- The Sickness (/100)
- The Lurking Fear (/100)
- From Beyond (/100)
- Indifferent w/ L.U.X (/100)
- The Abyss w/ Subtronics (/100)
- Death Awakens w/ TenGraphs (/100)
- Phantasm (/100)
- Severed w/ Aimless (/100)
- Overseers w/ Bratkilla (/100)
- Madness w/ MVRDA (/100)
- Snuff (/100)
- Paralysis w/ FaceSplit (/100)
- Cthulhu (/100)
- Delusion (/100)
- Atheist's Cookbook (/100)
- Leech (/100)
- Blasphemy w/ D-Jahsta (/100)
- Dungeon w/ Qoiet (/100)
- De-Void w/ Digitist (/100)