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Formed in 2004, British dubstep duo Nero came to fame with their awesome remix of The Streets Blinded by Lights, transforming Mike Skinner’s original into an outrageous bass banger. Now the duo has released their first album – Welcome Reality.
Here’s the lowdown. Featuring the vocals of Alana Watson, Welcome Reality stays true to what brought Nero to the dance floor – merging drum n’ bass and dubstep with elements of ‘Nineties commercial house and trance.
Each track on the album flows seamlessly from one into the next, taking you on a journey of euphoric sync stabs, soaring diva vocals, grinding beats, and super-distorted basslines.
‘Doomsday’ gets the album off to a good start, sounding like a forgotten hard house tune crossed with The Prodigy’s “Breathe”. ‘Me and You,’ the duos breakthrough track, starts like an obscure 80s synth track before becoming a sort of metallic rock-disco,’ and ‘Promises,’ which entered the UK singles chart at 1, is a catchy instant-hit.
‘Fugue State,’ the most inventive track on the album, attempts to create towering electro-house beats, similar to French duo Justice. However, Welcome Reality lacks the inventiveness that most fans would have expected, the majority of tracks being a combination of bombastic beats and hammered keys.
Welcome Reality, therefore, lacks the creativity of the music being produced by artists like SBTRKT. Nero’s sounds are more likely to be heard on commercial dance radio than on stations like Rinse or at clubs like FWD>>.
At the same time, only snobs equate commercial success with lesser quality material. Welcome Reality is not a masterpiece; it’s an album that showcases some of the sounds that are at the forefront of EDM right now. Nero are on a journey – and I for one am definitely joining them for the ride.
Track Listing:
01: 2808
02: Doomsday.
03: My Eyes
04: Guilt
05: Fugue State
06: Me And You
07: Innocence
08: In The Way
09: Scorpions
10: Crush On You
11: Must Be The Feeling
12: Reaching Out
13: Promises
14: Departure
[easyreview title=”Dubstep Album: Welcome Reality by Nero” cat1title=”Decent Album from Nero” cat1detail=”You cant help but respect Nero for the direction they have pushed dubstep. Love them or hate them you simply cannot ignore this album.” cat1rating=”4.7″]
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