Alex Iva, Chedd & Chease – Mercenary
• Complex blueprint, various elements to explore and degustate
• Weirdly positioned robotic vocal in the build-up
• Entertaining experience, even if diverse from Radar’s usual style
It is unusual, but I am getting used to hear Bass House on Revealed Radar, even if I still believe that there are more suiting labels for the mentioned genre. Avoiding predictable complaints, let’s focus on “Mercenary”, a piece of energetic EDM released on Friday. It particularly impressed me with its catchy vocal and hooking dynamics, and I decided that it deserves a review nonetheless.
The creators are Alex Iva and Chedd & Chease, from Ukraine. The pair has some successful releases (in particular, Alex Iva gained a lot of good results with his début “Feel Me”, while Chedd & Chease is faring well on Spinnin’ Talent Pool) and this time they worked with a tried-and-tested Bass House approach.
I didn’t prefer the “robotic” vocal overall, but in “Mercenary”, this element is cleverly subsided in the background, thus it didn’t impact much of my experience. It fuses harmonically with the complex substrate of percussions, by far my favorite element. I spent various minutes rewinding and exploring all the fills, loops, samples and small elements that the duo put in the cauldron… Impressive arrangement, that adds a bit of chaos and fun in equal measures.
The build-up section is just a loop where, unfortunately, the vocal loop leads the stage, suddenly uninterrupted by laser effects and the concluding drop. This time, we also have techno-ish vibes, and I must admit that the creators had a very fine idea for closing the production in this way.
Overall, that was an amusing and enjoyable experience! Alex Iva and Chedd & Chease may have to wait before testing the weapon on the dance-floor, but I have the feeling that it will score well. Maybe paired with another vocal as a mash-up, as I would like to personally recommend.
“Mercenary” doesn’t fit totally on Radar, but it’s apt material for a Bass House label. Hopefully it will get recognized and appreciated by the right audience!
