Forbidden Arts - Caster

The good: Caster showcases his multigenre talent with his "Forbidden Arts" EP. And what better way to solidify his position as an artist than a creative bass project like this one? The experimentation is clean, welding together genres from psytrance to midtempo, even throwing in tearout and breaks into the mix — the signature Caster production cocktail — and executing them with flair. The production is clean enough, too, even if it is a little bit rough around the edges. But what really gets me is the structure. A rigid opener that moves into a midsection that explores the three corrupting fantastical disciplines of "Necromancy", "Chronomancy" and "Technomancy"? A grand finale — one of the grandest — incorporating a nifty little interlude that combines leads from all the tracks in the midsection (which is genius, might I add) that moves into an absolutely destructive tearout finish? Now that, that is damn good structure. Oh, also, the "Forbidden Arts" EP has an audiobook. An entire audiobook. Detailing its narrative. Come on.

The bad: There isn't much to criticize here, but admittedly, Caster's production can still feel a little rough around the edges at times. Technically speaking, even though it does have some very cool structural and narrative elements, the production doesn't have much to show for other than the mashing of genres.