Track Listing: 1. Crank 2. Take A Chance 3. The Living Dead 4. Cowboy
When Zeds Dead and Omar Linx started performing live together, the worlds of heavy EDM and hip hop fused better than David Guetta and Lil Wayne’s collaborations. When Omar grabs the mic to say he feels like “King Kong” on the opening track of Ultra Record’s Living Dead EP, you can’t help but to think of the grandiose scale this is on. While dubstep’s roots lie in grime music, which sounds like british people spitting wicked bars over dubstep, this is the most tasteful version this hip hop / dubstep fusion.
“Crank”, the aforementioned first track, is a great example of how the two worlds can collide in harmony. The drops are left for Zeds Dead’s production to shine, but Omar’s rap intro is tailored for the music and contains an authenticity that a sample couldn’t quite fill.
“Take A Chance” is a couple notches down as far as the energy goes, but if you’re a Zeds Dead fan you know how they do. I love the fact that they don’t grind machine noises down your throat at an excellerated rate. The melody and musical substance is what makes ZD more listenable than most other heavy hitting dubstep artists. Effects on Omar’s voice give it a southern rap type appeal. “Why feel low when you can feel high”?
“The Living Dead”, which was released a month or so ago, is the clans electro track. At Bisco Zeds Dead didn’t really dabble in the electro selections as much as I’ve seen in the past, but with this track they clearly still have a huge interest in the genre.
“Cowboy” has a guitar intro with Omar releasing his most interesting verse of the EP. The 175bpm drop gives the track that bouncy, Bassnectar type feel. The break in the middle is more of a rock song than anything else you’ll really hear at an EDM festival. Omar rapping over the guitar chuggs made me miss when I could actually stand rock radio. Overall the EP is a great extension of Zeds Dead’s catalogue. With new sounds and a new voice to lead the way, the future is super bright for these Canadian dubstep tyrants.