Four years ago, experimental bass music was forever changed with the inception of SHADES. Made up of heavyweight producers Alix Perez and EPROM, the duo’s 2015 self titled EP, became the first of numerous influential projects over the years, all culminating today with their debut album - In Praise of Darkness.
If you’ve been to a bass show in the past few months, chances are you’ve heard something off this latest offering. Coming to us off of Zeds Dead’s Deadbeats label, In Praise of Darkness weighs in at a whopping 12-tracks – significantly longer than any other SHADES project to date.
From the very start, the LP’s structureless, elastic intro track, “Threnody”, sets the expectation that SHADES has once again pushed the boundaries of what bass music was, is and could be. Filled with eerie atmospheric soundscapes, trippy, machine-like sound design, skittering percussion some of the hardest basslines in the game, Alix Perez & EPROM take the listener through an intense sonic journey throughout the entirety of the project. Just when you think you’ve started to get comfortable with SHADES’ slow boom-bap-inspired production style, you’ll be transported to yet another level of the Dante’s Inferno-like underworld that the duo has masterfully created. Check out In Praise of Darkness below and enjoy!
SHADES – In Praise of Darkness
SHADES SUMMER TOUR DATES
July 13 | Denver - Black Box
July 14 | Vancouver – Red Room
July 18 | Santa Cruz – Catalyst
July 19 | San Francisco – 1015 Folsom
July 20 | Los Angeles – Bassrush
July 21 | Quebec – Valhalla Sound Circus
July 25 | Washington, D.C. – Soundcheck
July 26 | Virginia Beach – Peabody’s
July 27 | Greenville – The Firmament
July 28 | Brooklyn – The Paper Box