Submotion Orchestra - 'Alium'

5/10

Since the dramatic decline of dubstep's popularity over the last few years, a number of acts have had to redesign their sound in order to remain relevant. And while Submotion Orchestra were never a fully fledged dubstep act, it still remains the base of their sound and this new work still holds remnants of that influence. Now onto their third full-length, this latest effort sees them take on a more varied style that sees their jazz and trip-hop influences come through even stronger.

While they have now become a far more experimental and eclectic outfit, this new material never seems to find its feet as they begin to come across as a group in the middle of an identity crisis. The quality of production and instrumentation is still top notch, yet the overall power in their music seems to be lacking as they find it hard to deliver any memorable material on this new record. The pace of the record seems all out of place and makes it hard to really get into the music as a whole.

It is still a great album in small doses, but their is far too much filler on here to make it an enjoyable listen throughout. Hopefully they will have found their feet again by the next one, but this is hardly the reimagined sound we were looking forward to.

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