Requiem for a Riot (Riot Ten)

After his disastrous "Feral" EP, Riot Ten returns to Monstercat to release an entire album, and this feels like a much better performance than "Feral".

The problems in Feral — namely the unfortunately muddy mixing — aren't nearly as prominent here in this project, though they are still present. In fact, for the most part, "Requiem for a Riot" doesn't have that bad of a production standard — well, alright, compared to most festival dubstep, at least. But I suppose festival dubstep is exactly what Riot Ten goes for here. Barring the interludes, every track here would befit a live environment, whether that's the stomping briddim of "CRASHOUT", the minimal and wobbly freeform bass of "Bass Bop", or even the drum and bass roller of "High Octane", and every track here would probably come close to destroying a crowd. All the buildups actually have a satisfying climax and a powerful drop, and though the creative potential varies wildly, the impact is always there, even if it's paired with some rather flat mixing. Riot Ten's flow and rhythm is also surprisingly good for the genre, probably because of the inherent silliness of this album, packed with memey aesthetics and over-the-top shouty hip-hop vocals and casually packaged with the most grandiose, pretentious classical interludes and intro/outros this project could have possibly offered up. The tonality is borderline nonsensical, but it works because "Requiem for a Riot" knows it's borderline nonsensical and seriously plays it up. Everything here is ultimately made for a good time, and I can ultimately respect that — that being said, though, it isn't necessarily my cup of tea. Ironically, particularly considering the "Feral" EP of last year, Riot Ten's production is actually my favourite part of this record, exploring styles both within festival dubstep (such as the aforementioned briddim and freeform bass) but also outside of it (such as the once again aforementioned drum n bass, but also even glitch hop), and feeling somewhat refined all the way through — not necessarily fresh, nor completely polished, but refined enough to be interesting. My main problem with this record is actually in the vocalists. The shouting, intentionally loud and aggressive style of hip-hop leaning vocals just feels a little shallow and pretty annoying, and whilst it would probably work brilliantly at a festival, I can't say the same for a home listener, or for an album context. More than anything, it feels like it really should be pointed at something but tends to meander lyrically into unnecessary tangents and random adlibs, shouting for the purpose of shouting without any real direction. It's energetic, sure, but difficult to put up with amidst all the noise of the track.

Admittedly, after the "Feral" EP, my expectations for "Requiem for a Riot" were crushed. But honestly? Despite, the flat rating, I'm pleasantly surprised with this album, because it proves to me that any typically generic festival briddim producer can actually make a solid album, even an artist who gets as frequently dunked upon as Riot Ten. Though this project isn't objectively the highest quality thing ever (far from it, what with the dubious mixing and all), these production standards are a far better benchmark than everything "Feral" could have ever been (I know I've compared to that EP a lot, but it's ingrained into my brain — give me a break, alright).