Divinorum - Au5

There are only two things this album does well.

The first is the vocals. The selection of vocalists in "Divinorum" is exceptional, right from Tasha Baxter's emotive performance in the opener "Stargate", to Nasty Purple's epically fun feature in "Lazerfunk", and everything in between. It's just a set of great vocals, albeit with a fair amount of commercial appeal, and Au5's buildups and offdrop production bolsters them very well and gives them that little extra impact that only production can give. But the second thing the album does well is, inevitably, that very production. Sitting comfortably at the zenith of the dubstep scene for over a decade now, Au5's production standards are through the roof, and he unquestionably delivers. There was no doubt about it, not really, but the final product is still admirable for its quality. Au5's pristine take on melodic dubstep is everpresent and refreshing in a modern scene of what is otherwise the same song over and over again, and to fuse this creativity with the old-school wubs and growls of brostep is to fuse greatness with greatness. With three songs over 7 minutes long, the production would have to be very good to keep them somewhat engaging, and Au5 has done a lot more than 'somewhat engaging' here—all three of them keep me interested all the way through via their composition and songwriting. Composition isn't limited to those three tracks though, but to every track that melds the bright with the bassy—and to extrapolate this to the entire album would not be a far stretch, as Au5 provides a fair variety of moods, whether it's the goofy "Beautiful Sky" or the intimate "Drink Me". But the surefire selling point of "Divinorum" must be the sound design, intricate and almost crystally. It's a big part of what makes Au5 such a well-respected producer, and this particular project is no different. His synthwork is spotless, and although the heavier brostep sections can feel a little overdone with their sustains, they justify their position in the track superbly, giving each song a welcome dynamic quality to it.

Perhaps, though, it's these heavier sections that bring "Divinorum" to just below Au5's typical sonic standard—or perhaps it's something else. Nonetheless, "Divinorum" doesn't quite seem to achieve the legendary merit Au5 is normally treated with for his singles, nor does it hold the cohesiveness required for the project to stand out as, well, a project. But Au5's standards are astronomically higher than most other artists, and so "Divinorum" is still a phenomenal project in its own right, and even though it might not be comparable to his other stuff, its more diverse nature—with its aforementioned three 7-minute-tracks, and its toying of both heavy and melodic styles—does make up for some of the glory it's lost.