Meat Beat Manifesto - Autoimmune

Label: Metropolis
Catologue Number: 02028611712
Format: CD
Date: 2008
Style: Breakbeat / Electronica / Dubstep
Rating: 8/10
Reviewer: Sidney James

Jack Dangers and cohorts are back with venom and this time around there is no immunity from their sonic attack. Not since Actual Sound & Voices have Meat Beat sounded so direct. This time around there are no side journeys into jazz as heard on At The Centre or the sound of a band coasting on easy street as witnessed on RUOK?

So what has changed in the Meat Beat camp you may ask. Well apart from Autoimmune being a collection of really solid tracks, we have the re-introduction of some serious weight to the Jack Dangers sound. We have the re-appearance of the dread toasting on tracks like Lonely Solider and I Hold the Mic. We also greeted with the first Jack Danger's vocal track since Subliminal Sandwich on the thunderous Solid Waste and its good to hear his sardonic English rap delivery again

However the biggest change is that it appears that Jack has been listening to a lot of dubstep and its influence can be heard throughout Autoimmune. The influence of the latest UK underground sounds is most prevalent on the track 62 Dub, where slow solid dubbed out beats are joined by a cavernous throbbing and tweaked bass line. The dubstep influence is also the highlight on the sample heavy track Hellfire, a typical Meat Beat track given a new life with another massive bass workout. The only downside to the track being the use of the more than over familiar "This is a Test" public broadcast sample.

If there is a weakness to the album it can be found in the last quarter of the album, with tracks like Spanish Vocoder which wanders off into the meandering electro style of RUOK's lesser tracks.

Another gripe is with the formatting of the album which sees the US and UK versions having different track listings. Which is a bit of a kick in the teeth of the hardcore Meat Beat completist, who like me is going to ending up buying the same album twice.

These small issues asides don't however stop Autoimmune rating as one best releases of 2008 so far. It also proves that Jack Dangers has the ability to draw in modern influences into the his work while keeping the things the make Meat Beat uniquely Meat Beat.