60%

Truth be told, I’m quite disappointed with this EP. I came to treat The People’s Republic of Europe as a project which although mainly revolves around rhythm noise, is not a stranger to experiments. However, ‘Reign of Terror’ shows us a more orthodox face of TPROE as the music it contains seldom goes beyond the borders of the above mentioned genre. What does that mean for the listener? Means that if one does not want to find anything of interest, the only thing they will hear is a constant beat with a few pace changes here and there. The hope, however, is hidden (as always) underneath the beat surface, if I may so say. Electronic bits and noises are covered with highly exposed rhythm section (insolent ‘Dirty Combat’), which if you manage to ignore, will unravel its tasty secrets to you. The very first tune, ‘Casterblaster’, includes spundscapes which remind me of Aphex Twin’s ‘Start as you Mean to go on’. ‘Going to Hell’ has similar surprises under its skirt. The already mentioned ‘Dirty Combat’, as well as ‘Rammer’, are a typical and rather average rhythm noise tracks. The title track is yet another, however less pleasant, surprise. The tempo is significantly slower, almost hip-hop-like, and the track features talking samples, to which I remained indifferent, as the track is simply boring. The last tune on the EP is ‘System Shock’, which in its structure is more like ‘Custerblaster’ than ‘Dirty Combat’.

I’m not going to lie, I was hoping for something better. Maybe not for a copy of what ‘Babylon’ had to offer, cuz that would mean the project started to devour its own tail, but maybe for something more than just a few tracks in a classic form. Which simultaneously means that those looking for pure R’n’N should turn to this EP. Other should wait for better material.

Tracklist:

01.Casterblaster
02.Dirty Combat
03.Going to Hell
04.Rammer
05.Reign of Terror
06.System Shock

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