RAITO’s releases for BNR have always been rave revival floor-fillers, heavily drenched in 90’s oldskool breakbeat hardcore, tribal, and darkstep influences. “One Step Beyond” shows Raito’s increasingly unmatched ability to craft bangers that are both festival-ready and so obsessively rooted in rave canon that even the chin-strokers can’t deny their appeal.
The title track brings huge euphoria, with pianos, amens, a reese bassline, diva vocals, rewinds, and an MC bigging up what seems to be the biggest party in the world called “One Step Beyond.” It’s immersive in a way that moves outside the walls of the track, with the samples providing atmosphere that transports you to another time and place. “Island Tribe” revisits a format explored on Raito’s last EP “Tribal Cave,” a conga filled slow-builder that will nearly drive you mad, with the final 30 seconds providing an electrified relief. “Drop That” could fit in a deep house set- although the thumping kick and high tempo betrays it’s own “deepness” for something a bit harder, not to mention you could cut shapes all night to the sticky bassline. “No More” has Raito closing the release with a more menacing, tension and release structured, breakbeat-jittered house track, leaving the listener feeling like the EP was the last 4 tracks of the night at the biggest party in the world. Lest we’ve forgotten the announcer from the title track already, that party is called “One Step Beyond.”
1. One Step Beyond 2. Island Tribe 3. Drop That 4. No More
Digital
August 31, 2018
BNR181