I first started listening to Culprate when he released his 5 Star EP. It was a good listen. I listened to a couple of the songs more than once, but found the EP on the whole less than remarkable. You could tell he was still coming into his sound. When I heard his debut album was in the works my expectations were not high.
But following his Indiegogo campaign, where Culprate stated “I want to take my production to the next level and create an experimental album,” one that “will be nothing like you’ve heard before, it won’t be a million miles away from my previous productions, but it will certainly be a lot better,” I got a little excited. From what I’d heard of his earlier work, I appreciated his music, but it did lack a certain something. A dedicated effort to take his production to the next level would definitely help build out what his sound was missing. I’m also a fan of any artist trying something more “experimental”.
So how did his Indiegogo campaign turn out? Incredible. In less than two months his project was funded. And in less than a year Deliverance was released. Here’s my favorite track from the album, called Yin:
The album itself is brilliant. It completely exceeded my expectations. The beauty of the album is not in one or two tracks, but in how the album plays as a whole. It’s a seemless production—roughly a hour long musical journey some have called reminesent of Pink Floyd and Squarepusher, complex and psychedelic.
Deliverance, to me, is reminesent of Aphex Twin’s Richard D. James Album. But it’s also so much more than that and, in my opinion, better. It’s an album that I can (and have) played on repeat all day long. It plays well as ambient music while I’m coding, but also as an energy boost when I’m exercising. It’s just a wonderful album, with so many layers that it will likely take a long time to wear out for me.
Culprate has certainly reached a new level with Deliverance. He’s convinced me to believe in him as an artist, and has me excited to see what comes next. If you missed this 2014 debut release, I highly recommend checking it out now.
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