[Album Review] Protohype - Speak No Evil EP

In the final installment of his EP trilogy, Protohype gives us some terrific old school wobbles and beats on Speak No Evil. I love what Protohype has done with this EP, everything from getting Datsik back into his roots to having a collab on every track - 12th Planet, Two Fresh, Virus Syndicate, Jupiter Slap, and The Frim.

A little background - the proverb "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" is of Japanese, or Chinese, origin (depending on whose  history you read) and whose meaning is often debated. In the Western world, the proverb is often used to refer to a lack of moral responsibility on the part of people who refuse to acknowledge impropriety, looking the other way or feigning ignorance.

It's hard to find an actual thematic element linking the three EPs aside from the title, but Speak No Evil is definitely the peak of Protohype's production skills. Since See No Evil was released, Protohype has gotten wide acclaim for his talent and on-stage presence. Most recently, he's touring across the country with Datsik on his "Firepower's Most Wanted" tour, promoting artists on his own label, such as Antiserum, Rise at Night, and Sub Antix.



One of my favorite tracks is the collab with 12th Planet. One of the great characteristics of it is the perfect melding of electro-house bass line and classic dubstep kick snare; but it's the 108 BPM breakdowns that really do it for me. That and the dirtiest synth leads next to some Skrillex tracks.

"Feeling Irie" with The Frim also does a huge job of using its quasi-reggae build up and unleashing a huge bass drop and even bringing back some of the classic wobble synths from way back when Rusko was just getting huge with his "Pro Nails" remix. And I probably haven't said it out loud here, but I'm a huge fan of tempo change ups, a la Zomboy. So when the track drops into its electro-house beat back into another huge dubstep drop, my jaw was on the floor.

I have to say, though, that I expected a bit more from Two Fresh on "Hear It Go." But as soon as I heard the rolling snares, I knew it was headed into a trap drop and that just immediately made me disinterested. The hip-hop breakdown in the middle saved it for me though, and reminded me that Protohype really is a fantastic artist, and even when he does trap he at least tries to make it unique (as hard as that is, with the genre being so pigeon-holed). The same can be said about the track with Jupiter Slap. The fact that trap used the same drum racks and bass lines, with just barely different synths makes it so unbearably uninteresting to me.

Overall, it's a great way to end the trilogy and it definitely shows where Protohype is headed. I can at least say that when I saw him open for Caspa last year, he threw down hard.