New Hampshire-based DJ/producer Drop Goblin is a rising star in the EDM, heavy bass, metalstep and glitch-pop genres, bringing a background in metal and hardcore into play on his crushing studio releases, remixing tracks from the Beastie Boys, Beyoncé and Alestorm, and mixing on the fly via dual unsynced iPads in live venues. But most importantly, he puts the creative focus on darker sounds and themes, including some of our favorite horror movies, and turns out some badass interpretations under the Ultragore Recordings label.
One such project is his new EP The Gate, which premieres today. The Gate takes its cue from the 1987 horror film of the same name, in which a preteen Stephen Dorff battles demonic hordes summoned from a hell-portal by the occult lyrics of a heavy metal record. Sounds like an ideal subject for musical interpretation, if you ask me. The final mix of the title track is as evil as you'd expect, with chopped samples of screams amid the slippery synth lines, violent bass drops and icy metal guitar riffs, but that's just the instrumental foundation: as a bonus, Drop also released an even more sinister-sounding vocal version of the track, which features the demon-summoning album lyrics from the movie – not sampled directly from the film, as you might expect, but spoken and re-tracked by the artist himself, then treated with spooky pitch-shifting effects. The vocal version isn't bundled with the EP, but has been released as a bonus track, which you can download for free at Bloody Disgusting. Take a listen to that version here:
The EP also includes a “Mendez Mosh Pit Remix” of the title track, not surprisingly with a major emphasis on guitar, which sounds extra beefy with the synth line pushed further back in the mix. The package is rounded out with the sweet b-side “No Hope,” which features a lower, grittier sounding bass line beneath chilly, drifting clouds of string pads. The guitar chugs here are downplayed a bit, but synced perfectly with the synth stabs.
The Gate opens wide today via Beatport, and any fan of the film who grooves on hard metalstep should have this one on their playlist. Be sure to swing by Drop Goblin's official Facebook for more shocking sounds!