Flashover - Vici

Underground drum n bass talent Vici drops his debut album, filled to the brim with big kick-snares and monstrous neuro basses.

Absorbing his 2024 "Glitch" EP into this project, Vici seems to understand how to drum n bass very well. "Flashover" is tasteful and well-produced, smooth in its quality and driven in its impact. Constructed with transitions between tracks, Vici's debut project is just... nice. Slamming neurofunk and thick basslines, complemented by clean sound design and a couple of nifty repeating samples, transmutate "Flashover" into a balls-to-the-walls drum n bass experience, going toe to toe with some of the best neuro the scene has to offer. The high energy is much appreciated, particularly when combined with the darker, almost violent tonality, giving this project a much-needed belligerence, paired with hints of anger and sheer heaviness. Vici draws punches over and over, each time with a slightly different approach — perhaps the grime verses and driven neuro of "Unreality", the stabbiness of "Illusion", or the almost funky twinge to "Henchman" — keeping "Flashover" diverse and, subsequently, interesting. It's a simple neurofunk project, but one that does neurofunk well enough to be engaging, and ultimately, that's what Vici strives for. And pairing his already destructive neurofunk style with a couple of neat vocal features was certainly a good idea, bringing on Miss Understood and Madrush MC to a few of these tracks to really spice things up a bit. Both diversity and aggressiveness are much appreciated on this record, but unfortunately it feels like Vici could have been a little more ambitious. Some of the tracks feel a little tired, particularly "Bullshark" and "Resilience" in the later stage of the album, and it really does feel like "Flashover" is missing a piece of the puzzle. Having between-track transitions is always a nice touch, but there aren't enough cohesive elements to reinforce them properly, and none of the dark elements seem to maintain themselves throughout the tracklist, leaving "Flashover" feeling a little disjointed. It's not terribly uncohesive, but Vici did miss a few tricks in structuring this album. The production itself also feels a little withdrawn — yes, it's aggressive, and yes, its approach is varied, but I do feel like both of those fields could be expanded upon further.

I don't think I'll be coming back to "Flashover" anytime soon as a holistic project, but I can't deny that there are some really good tracks on here. Though I did prefer most of the collab tracks and/or tracks with vocal features to the solo tracks, Vici is still clearly a talented producer with plenty more dense neurofunk tunes under his belt. All in all, "Flashover" is solid for a debut album, and I'm intrigued to see where Vici goes next.