Echtoo – Gray Duck [Patrol The Skies]

On February 7th, Patrol The Skies will be releasing its second LP entitled “Patrol The Underground”. The motivation behind this project is to pay homage to the sounds and styles of drum and bass music that have helped to form the vocabulary heard in the drum and bass of today. To do this, they rounded up the sounds of Echtoo, FinePrint, Mixedmedia, Pish Posh DnB, Rends, Stay Phresh, Will Miles, and more, who all provide their take on bridging classic jungle vibes with a more modern sound.

One of the tracks that stood out for me on the LP is “Gray Duck” from Echtoo. In all honesty, I am not sure what the motivation behind this track or its title is, but I do know forward thinking drum and bass when I hear it! This one rolls out the intro with a nice stepper beat and a futuristic warped synth that rises and falls and leads up to a crashing crescendo that finally winds down to make way for another warping synth and bass line that weaves in and out of filters and seems to almost be playing in reverse. Just when you are getting your head around that lead, razor sharp amens drop and turn up the heat on this one instantly. The slamming amens stand out from the drop, but give way to another chunky two step beat with the warped synths on top that change up the pace inside the track as it evolves. Just as you are starting to wind down catch your breath, the amens come back pick you back up for more break beat damage. Pure devastation with this one.