Dubstep Legend Skream Releases First Album in Ten Years ‘Skreamizm 8’

After a decade, multigenre producer, Skream, has released his eleven-track album, ‘Skreamizm 8,’ connecting his takes on techno and house to his past dubstep and grime.

Skream dropped his debut album, ‘Skream!,’ in 2006 before releasing ‘Outside The Box’ in 2010 and a variety of unreleased tracks over three separate records. After over a decade, the artist’s eleven-track project, ‘Skreamism 8,’ just months after dropping his first dubstep track in years. The album begins with “HIT,” immediately taking the listener into an alternate universe with chimes, an ominous tone, and bass that flows into the next track, “Funky Sailor,” with Trim’s chill vocals. 

“The Flute Track” utilizes a distorted version of a flute to lay down the melody in front of “Not Ready Yet,” which dives into a melodic techno style. “Wierd Minimal” with Bklava is urgent and keeps the energy going, drawing pure, early-2000s dubstep. “My Body” lifts the vibe of ‘Skremizm 8’ with entrancing drums before “Devon Analogue Raver” follows with upbeat drums and an atmospheric break halfway through. 

The next two songs, “Waiheke Island” and “Your Love” are tracks with Prospa and Lagoon Wavey respectively. The first is bright, and the latter is wonky and weird, highlighting different textures of sound. As an ode to the late Scottish DJ, Jamie Roy, “Roy The Boy” is infused with clips of Roy and Skream interacting as a progressive beat plays underneath. 

“Thinking Of You” completes ‘Skreamizm 8,’ with prominent drums and piano, as well as spoken word from Oliver Dene Jones, also known as Skream. He has been tearing up electronic music for decades, shaping dubstep into how we know it today. The London-based producer introduced a more melodic type of bass music, rocketing to the top of the UK charts.

He did not stop there, though, trying out various genres like house and techno. The progression of his style eventually cemented him into the house music space and gave him opportunities to curate compilations for house labels, collaborate with pop artists, and play huge festivals as well as more intimate nightclubs. Skream has continued to delve into higher tempos, debuting at CircoLoco last year and then releasing music on their label. 

‘Skreamizm 8’ shows his evolution and ability to keep creating innovative tracks with blends of his past and new sounds. Skream has been a force in electronic music since 2006 and his newest album, ‘Skreamizm 8,’ is out now on all streaming platforms. Listen to it on Spotify here: 

Madison Duncan

Hi! My name is Madison and I was born and raised in Colorado, giving me immediate access to some of the best live music. I have two degrees from the University of Denver in Media Studies and Criminology and am passionate about music journalism. Some of my favorite artists are, but not limited to, Disco Lines, Tape B, Space Laces, and Whyte Fang.

See author's posts