Dogma Resistance - RIOT

This is the soundtrack of the apocalypse, and it's anarchic brostep. How fitting is that?

RIOT maintain a very consistent, fast-paced chaos all the way through their debut album—a fitting stylistic choice for an album themed on the literal end of the world, predicated upon the premise of a live witnessing of gargantuan machines descending from the sky, delivered in a monstrous assault of sustained basslines. "Dogma Resistance" is THE apocalpyse album because it quite literally sounds like an apocalpyse—an absolute pandemonium of sound and sampling designed in a high-energy, high-octane manner that is simultaneously destructive and also great fun to listen to. Taking the stance of live reporting via its vocal samples littered throughout—most prominently in the intro "Overture 1990", but also generously distributed through the tracks themselves, like in "Blackwater" or "The Mob"—"Dogma Resistance" twists and turns and crashes through the entire world (and I mean that, because the diversity in atmosphere is surprisingly globalized, from the desert themeing of "Aiwa" to the jungle-esque "Jungle Fury") to make its mark on the modern dubstep scene. Almost cinematic and still very noticeably brostep, RIOT pair loud growls with a solid storyline, a few atmospheric interludes, and a whole lot of vocal samples—though this is where the album begins to run into some problems. The vocal samples, as enthusiastic as they are, can be a little overenthusiastic, and though they help the energy of the LP, they can also occassionally override the apocalyptic energy with more party-like energy, whilst the news reporter samples can be a cheesy and on-the-nose. But honestly, at any given point in the album, there's a good chance it wouldn't be a big problem, because the aggressive bass-driven production tends to take the spotlight (as it should, really).

Though the style it pushes is intentionally loud and abrasive, it also makes "Dogma Resistance" a slightly more difficult album to digest. The rhythms are often drowned by an overloading of heavy production, and some of the cinematics are lost to the vocal samples or the obnoxious sound design, and it can all feel very bloated or overwhelming at times. And so yes, whilst "Dogma Resistance" is most certainly the album that characterizes the peak of RIOT's career, it isn't the easiest listen in the world, nor is it the most technically sound. It sure is good fun though.