King Cannibal - Let The Night Roar

Ninja Tune: Cat. # ZENCD151 

Released October 2009 

Track List: 1. Intro (0:59) 

2. Aragami Style (6:14) 

3. Murder Us featuring Jahcoozi (6:16) 

4. Virgo featuring Face-A-Face (5:03) 

5. So… Embrace The Minimum (5:48) 

6. Dirt featuring Daddy Freddy (4:58) 

7. Colder Still (6:07) 

8. A Shining Force (6:12) 

9. The Untitled (5:40) 

10. Onwards Vultures (5:32) 

11. Flower Of Flesh And Blood (6:40) 

IN BRIEF: Grit, gunk, and grime. 

For the longest time, Ninja Tune was regarded as one of - if not the - premiere labels for streetwise EDM. Cultivating trip-hop, abstract-hop, jazz-hop, jungle-hop, and all that rot, the Coldcut crew brought several future funky head-beat stars to the forefront. Oh yes, there’s a few that need name-droppin’: The Herbaliser, Mr. Scruff, DJ Food, Amon Tobin… I’ll stop now. 

Yet, as seemed to happen to a number of big 90s labels, this previous decade saw Ninja Tune struggle to break form. The quality was never in question but was the buying public really all that interested in buying yet another collection of spliffed-out hip-hop jazz? Supposedly not, as the newer generation of ‘heads started flocking to upstart grime and dubstep labels like Hyperdub and Tempa while Ninja Tune pursued interests in stuff like post rock instead. Still, Ninja Tune never forgot its UK street roots, and though it had a bit of catching up to do, the label managed to drop one of the best damned dubstep albums the genre has seen: The Bug’s London Zoo. 

Though they continued to flirt with genres since, there was a bit of curiosity whether Ninja Tune could match that release with whatever dubstep follow-up came out. A couple years later, the debut album of newcomer King Cannibal, Let The Night Roar dropped. And, well, doesn’t quite reach The Bug’s lofty peak. Not that we should have expected it, mind. Dylan Richards has opted for a collection of tunes that’s quite straight-forward where EDM is concerned. 

Dubstep being his chosen domain, you have a few standard half-step numbers with ample wobble bass effects, a few grimy dancehall efforts, a couple flirtations into minimal techno, and even an experimental drone ambient offering (Onwards Vultures). It’s all finely produced, with a murky atmosphere that will appeal to those who prefer their dubstep sinister rather than gimmicky. In fact, it’s this consistent atmosphere that makes Let The Night Roar work better than it probably should. There’s no denying Richards is a capable producer but he jumps between styles of music so much that the album’s flow always seems to be in danger of derailing. 

For instance, second track proper Murder Us is a sludgy bit of techno which, some nifty melodic-glitch near the end notwithstanding, feels totally out of sync with the surrounding tunes. It’s as though Richards took one of dubstep’s more annoying attributes - herky-jerky rhythms - and applied it to minimal techno (the cut-up vocal effects don’t help either); yet, there’s something about Murder Us that works in spite of that, such that you’re not really tempted to skip by (probably that melodic section). 

His diversity will also undoubtedly split opinions on this album for most listeners. I quite love the dubby techno of Embrace The Minimum (even if the tune includes a pointless growling bass noise in the middle), but others may prefer the pure dancehall bedlam of Dirt. Or more obviously, straight-up atmospheric dubstep cuts like Aragami Style and Flower Of Flesh And Blood (which is some excellently sinister!) will get the party kids excited, whereas beat-heads will get their funky-feet on with A Shining Force. 

If anything, Richards has hedged his bets, even if it created a disjointed album in the process. Again, it’s the overriding murky tone that keeps things flowing as well as it does. I’ll grant if you don’t like murk’n’grime in your music, then Let The Night Roar won’t be getting much rotation in your player any time soon. It is a fine debut from King Cannibal, however, and one of the better dubstep albums you’re likely to find these days. Here’s hoping for more from Ninja Tune in the future. 

Score: 7/10 

ACE TRACKS: 

So… Embrace The Minimum 

A Shining Force 

Flower Of Flesh And Blood 

Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.