Bad Guys Get Dead - Stellar Cartography
Review by Karl Magi
Overall Album Impressions
Bad Guys Get Dead’s Stellar Cartography carries listeners on a powerful, ethereal and dramatic journey through the complexity and majesty of the universe. An underlying darkness fills the music while moments of triumph and tenderness mingle with richly layered synths, guitar and percussion. The artist crafts a galactic journey that is full of both shadow and beauty, much like the universe in which we live.
One of the first elements that drew me to Stellar Cartography is the atmosphere that Bad Guys Get Dead creates. The music’s spaciousness and weighty feeling generates images of vast blackness. Intricately interwoven synth layers paint images of grand galactic structures and beautifully sparkling star fields. I can close my eyes as I listen and be transported across immeasurable distances and through sights of stunning cosmic beauty by the music.
Another factor in Stellar Cartography's success is the way it layers together sonic elements, like an artist building up the impasto on a painting. Each flickering mote of light and rumbling bass wave adds another layer of complexity and depth to the album. The interaction between guitar, synth sounds and the propulsive percussion creates microtonal beauty and a sense of three-dimensional sound that I am strongly enamored with.
I also want to mention the melodic writing on Stellar Cartography. Bad Guys Get Dead has created melodies that are sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant and always full of engaging feelings and expression. His facility for conveying emotion in his melodic writing carries me away and moves me with the way each melody unfolds. Each melodic part only increases the feeling of journeying across space.
My Favourite Tracks Analyzed
“Melancholy of the Voyager” starts off as deeply shifting bass growls while a voiceover speaks about Voyager 1 sending information back to Earth. Distantly wandering notes move through strangely twisting space, writhing and vibrating with a haunting feeling. The voiceover echoes above the roughly rumbling low end, creating a vast feeling as twanging bass begins to undulate with gruff edges.
The pulse becomes more intense as faraway sounds begin to tremble and shift, while notes drift like solar wind. A warmly beaming, minor-key-tinged synth trails as the drums and bass form a dynamic, cutting line that oscillates while quick sounds whisper through the music. I enjoy the unsettled, off-balance quality of the track as computerized notes burst and fade while the low end adds dramatic sensations. The 8-bit notes carry a melody that roams with digital randomness before the track ends.
A deeply open sound glides with luscious depth and surging power to kick off “Stellar Cartography.” Now computerized notes float out with a trailing lightness as the round depths below flow and glide. Fragile, ethereally glittering tones hover with brushing delicacy as sharp sounds float out into the distance above the thick bass swell.
Expansively slipping feelings fill the music as metallic notes trip and heavy drums thunder. A sweeping sound flits as the hard-hitting low end and gigantic bass shape the music. In the distance, cosmic sounds drift out into openness while ringing notes add a mechanized quality. Razor-edged sounds vibrate into the hollowness around them while the thick drums continue to pulse. A sense of inevitable motion fills the music, imbuing me with feelings of intense strength.
An open-voiced, fluting melody carries a deeply tranquil and meditative tune, lifting me away into the vast spaces of the universe. The drum beat’s pulse shapes the music as galactic notes roam out through the void. Tremulous notes cry out in slashing but brief patterns as distant serenity flows around them and the low end drives on. Metallic notes ring again and a steadily pulsating, bouncing rhythm moves through the music before silence falls.
"People of the Kuiper" starts with crackling static and slowly floating sounds that blend into the music as gruff sounds shift. Now the drums and bass heave with powerful muscle and echo outward while harshly growling notes tremble. The hi-hat begins to kick with the bass drum, creating powerful forward motion as the gritty sounds snarl in the distance. Weight and strength pour from the music as ominous notes rumble and twisted voices move in the background.
An electric guitar bends into the music with minor key madness, exuding threat as it twirls and cuts while the low end continues to pulsate. Rough sounds slice through and the drums continue to pound hard while the bass swirls. Rough noises slip through the music as a guitar growls again, with slipping notes moving behind it. The hi-hat continues to trip as the electric guitar shreds into the music with tearing energy and harsh noises rip through. There is a dominant power here that I find intimidating in the best possible way.
Long sweeps of sound call out while the guttural notes rumble below. The bass rebounds with colossal weight as angular noises echo into space. The drums continue to batter as distant noises cut in and fade. Power emanates from the music along with a palpable shadow as the guitar howls in ghostly motion. Rattling noises slice in the distance while the drums continue to hammer and the wobbling notes writhe. The guitar is a physical force above the unending low-end heartbeat. The track hammers to an end with darkness and threat.
"Protogalaxy" opens with serenely drifting synths that move with lusciously undulating bass. Arpeggiating notes float in steady motion, deep and rich, while a slowly thudding kick drum moves below. The spinning notes create elegant motion as swirling sounds combine in the distance. The drums are heavy and sharp as the continually oscillating arpeggio creates increasing depth and density.
The drums collide as the dramatic tension builds while the arpeggios spin. Brilliantly glimmering chords rise with minor key light as the drums add more speed, becoming faster and more intense. There’s a countdown and the low end begins to speed forward as sharply twisting notes swerve through the music in rapid cascade. The twirling arpeggios add to the forward motion, speeding up with increasing wildness.
A nasally dancing synth slashes through the music with an off-key feeling while the low end continues to batter. The ever-accelerating track creates a sense of a newly forming galaxy in roiling motion. I am compelled by the mad rush as the sounds intermingle and charge forward. The percussion continues to rebound while warning sounds cry out. The track ends as it began, with a calming and tender sonic flow.
"Dust Nebulous" commences as a steadily hovering sound moves distantly, with vibrations reverberating throughout. A distant, plaintive chord adds a wandering, searching quality as the ruffling synth lightly touches the track. There’s a tentative and uncertain feeling as the winding synth rises slowly, adding a soft glow.
A broadly throbbing drum forms a steady heartbeat as warm strings curl together. The drums and trembling synth create a feeling of continual motion while the caressing strings add cosmic gentleness. The low-end pulse is shifting and uneven, while rough sounds slip past and a rapidly rippling synth arpeggiates quickly, adding tranquility.
Rattling sounds shift as the quickly undulating notes intermingle with smoothness and tenderness. Harder-edged noises buzz in the distance as the drums pulse and arpeggios swirl above the stuttering, breaking drums that echo into open space. I enjoy the hauntingly meditative quality that permeates this music as the drums rush and fade to silence.
"Cosmic Obscura" kicks off with slowly descending, sparkling notes flowing out into a static backdrop. Threatening bass looms as glowing motes of light trickle downward in sharply angled motion. Now the bass pulses evenly while a clean, whirling arpeggio dances in the distance. Massive bass seethes below as quickly shimmering notes reverberate into open space.
Orchestral strings play and now ferociously slicing notes move above a hollow and peaceful synth, creating a sense of all-pervading calm. I enjoy the fluting synth’s contrast to the colossal and abrasive sounds moving in the distance. The drums flourish and pound as the twirling notes cascade downward above the darkly rising bass.
The drums tap and smack as sounds descend rapidly, open-voiced and thoughtful in their feeling. The drums collide again and the hissing background is cut by clear strings that add delicate luminosity above the throbbing drums. The strings tremble and flash, intertwining as the endlessly drifting notes wander through the track. Once again, the drums rebound while the orchestral strings are cut by trumpeting noises with a sense of danger. Luscious sounds dance together before the track comes to an end.
Conclusion
Stellar Cartography is a thrilling and well-crafted musical journey that carries me through the stars. From the impossible voids of endless space to intensely beautiful planetary vistas and sparkling planes of stars, Bad Guys Get Dead fills me with sublime terror and intense joy through his music.
