Bristol's premier techno-rockers Scaler return for their second full-length album, taking their sound to a darker, more explorative place with elements of trip-hop, drill and progressive metal entering the fray with plenty of special guests.
Formerly known as Scalping, those in the know are sure to be familiar with Scaler already after their collaborations with artists such as Daniel Avery, Mogwai and Grove as well as their stellar live appearances at ArcTanGent and Glastonbury amongst others. While their previous work delved into a blend of modern metal style live instruments and club inspired electronics, the quartet’s latest release Endlessly brings new twists and turns to their sound, drawing from artists as varied as Portishead and Deftones.
After a short, haunting introductory track ‘Quiet When It Speaks’, the album begins in earnest with ‘Salt’, an alt-pop and trip-hop inspired journey through new territory for Scaler. With British producer/singer Akiko Haruna providing some suitably ghostly vocals, ‘Salt’ sets a new standard for Scaler’s sound, weaving between Massive Attack style 808s, choppy rock percussion and subtle, post-rock inspired guitars before exploding into a sultry modern metal breakdown. While Scaler have clearly dedicated themselves to expanding their horizons, bringing in more and more genres both heavy and electronic, the band’s DNA remains intact with a tight balance of modern metal and club inspired electronics.
“While Scaler have clearly dedicated themselves to expanding their horizons, bringing in more and more genres both heavy and electronic, the band’s DNA remains intact with a tight balance of modern metal and club inspired electronics.”
While Endlessly contains more collaborations and guests than their previous output, Scaler’s instrumental tracks plunge into the same experimental waters as those with vocalists. On ‘Broken Entry’ the quartet find a middle ground between the drama of Hans Zimmer’s score for Inception, the pulsing energy of a Berlin club and the aggression of Loathe at their heaviest whereas ‘(yearn)’ takes them in a completely different direction, balancing punchy hip-hop drums with textures lifted from noise rock and shoegaze. Even when it’s impossible to tell where Scaler will take their sound next, the Bristol four-piece consistently find a way to both surprise and intrigue their audience with their effortless genre mashups.
Throughout their career Scaler have proven their ability to hold a crowd’s attention as an instrumental act, Endlessly manages to balance the energy that fans have come to expect with guests who elevate their already exciting work. While incorporating guest vocals Scaler avoid the pitfall of becoming someone else’s backing band, folding in ethereal, chopped up vocal samples from up and coming Frome based dream-pop act Shadow Stevie alongside subtle trip-hop textures on ‘Sinking In’ or fiery bars from London rapper ELDON backed by distorted riffs on ‘Salvation’ without compromising their vision. Guest vocals aren’t used as a crutch on Endlessly, instead they’re used as an additional instrument, enhancing the band’s eclectic mix of genres rather than tainting it.
Scaler sit at a unique crossroads between the rarely connected worlds of experimental metal and underground electronic music, providing fans of either with an exhilarating and engaging experience with enough danceable beats, hard-hitting riffs and overlapping textures to please both groups. Their latest effort Endlessly leans heavily into trip-hop’s deep ambience with plenty of varied guest vocalists to keep things fresh.