Review: Subliminal Stimuli - W32.MyDoom@MM

Last year I wrote a review of this album for Sputnikmusic, hoping to attract a new audience. The moderator was quick to declare how “painfully average” it sounded. I was furious and defeated at first, but then I realized that the same guy called Infected Mushroom “boring and derivative” and Deadmau5 a fucking masterpiece, so I guess in this case, I’ll take “painfully average” as a compliment. Welcome to the second review ever of Subliminal Stimuli’s “official” debut LP, W32.MyDoom@MM.

Since we’re on the topic of stupid music critics, I am reminded of a quote by Robert Christgau, the self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics," whose favorite artist happens to be Soulja Boy (what). While I may not agree with what he considers “good music,” I do agree with how he defines it. A top grade album, as he describes it, is one "that has invited and repaid repeated listenings in the daily life of someone with 500 other CDs to get to." Since I literally have almost that many albums combined between my digital library, CDs and cassette tapes, I can certainly relate to this statement. MyDoom, in less than a year since its release on Bandcamp, has received at least one or two dozen plays from me. I don’t mean in sections, or a track here and there; I play that shit front to back almost every time. Sometimes, I’ll skip to track 3 from the get-go, or I’ll stop playing after track 12, but from Watch My Every Sound to The Time Grew Wings and Flew Away, there is seldom any pausing, fast-forwarding or multi-tasking happening when it’s on.

The album both starts and ends in a low-energy, somber mood, which can be daunting, depending on the time of day. I can respect that certain tracks, like the last two orchestral tracks, are there as part of the theme of love that Rain tries to convey in his own strange way, and others, like the first two experimental tracks, are there to build up anticipation, or maybe because he simply enjoyed the pieces but wasn’t sure where else to put them. But frankly, I wouldn’t complain if he nixed the first and last two tracks and got right to the meat and potatoes, which starts right after “Garden of the Gods.” 14 minus four equals ten – ten tracks that explore the netherworlds of heavy dubstep, house, and even trap, with a bit of that good old double-time, half-time, and even über-time. What is “über-time?” Just listen to “Subliminal Stimuli (Part 2)” from 3:11-4:07 and see what I mean. Some tracks, like “Subliminal Stimuli (Part 2)” and “The Time Grew Wings...” are upbeat, quirky, happy hype tracks, while others, like “I Miss Your Warmth” and “Fucking ill (VIP)” are long, simple tunes that are dark and edgy. My favorites are the ones that mesh emotionally moving piano melodies with psychotic noise drops like in “Watch My Every Sound” and “Pianissimo Subuito Fortissimo” (“Very soft, and suddenly very loud”). The mood fluctuates from hyper to angry to scary to mellow to hyper again, is rife with sound effects that either jump in your face or pitter-patter about in the background filling in all the cracks and spaces between the snare and the bass. Whether you start from the very beginning or skip to track 3, you’re in for an audio rollercoaster ride.

I have only a couple criticisms of this album, the first being the lack of sounds during the first drop of “Watch My Every Sound;” an extra synth or growl here and there would have filled the void not quite covered even by the grotesque amounts of bass. My second and final lament is about “I Miss Your Warmth.” I don’t mind the two-and-a-half-minute build-ups, but when the “noise drop” from the 2011 track “Ill Prove My Worth To You.” a favorite of mine from the DoubleXX album, finally reaches its full power, it’s tragically drowned out by the subs, which makes the super long build-up almost not worth the wait.

Nevertheless, this whole album remains my favorite Subliminal Stimuli album, and dare I say,my favorite dubstep album altogether, and will likely reach classic status in my collection. Fuck you, Deviant.

Favorite tracks: Pianissimo Subuito Fortissimo, Subliminal Stimuli (Part 2), The Time Grew Wings and Flew Away, that other fire, I Missed You So Much