Mix of the Week 5/9 - STYLSS Mix 089: DREVM
Texan twins Dylan & Jared Chancey aka DREVM have joined forces with STYLSS to create a 44-minute mix that can best be described with one word, dark. DREVM, as founders of the exclusive yet prolific collective blck., are at the forefront of experimentation, taking lo-fi and bass music, and exploring brooding tones to innovate in two sub-genres, of Lo-Death and Deathcore. Combining slow tempos, deep bass and gothic imagery, this is some aggressively dark music.
Most of the mix is original works from DREVM. As a result, their brooding ambience is interwoven throughout the entire mix, using the gothic musical colours to ground the entire mix in darkness. DREVM have also included some unreleased tracks, like a remix of Lil Peep’s ‘The Way I See Things’ and two $uicideBoy$ remixes, highlighting their dedication to the experimentation and exposure of Lo-Death and Deathcore. Some of the more upbeat and brighter tracks that make it onto the mix are still embedded in this distinctly grim tone. For example, Sktchy Ppl’s ‘Have You Eva’ blasts the audience with low booming bass drones while a steady trap-influenced drum beat and vocals provide some much needed substance to the mix, drawing it out of the dark experimental trance DREVM have used to enslave their audience in the rhythmic beats. Another standout track is Woolymammoth’s ‘Juice’, which slaps the bass down, thumping along to fuel the latter half of the mix, reenergizing the glum tone. The inclusion of Dr Dreg’s ‘Season’, and ending on their unreleased Lil Peep, act as fitting tributes to two legends whose influence can be heard through DREVM’s music. Over the course of the 44 minutes, the audience is enthralled in darkness, and this takes a physical toll as the mix is exhausting to listen to, and the brooding tone slowly infects the audience. This is a testimony to the sensory power of the Lo-Death and Deathcore genres, as well as DREVM’s ability to perfectly exemplify them.
STYLSS, when describing their 89th mix, used the word “summoned” to describe how DREVM created this mix. The dark, gothic connotations associated with summoned bring up ideas of the occult and other monstrous imagery. That is exactly what it feels like DREVM have done. The twins have made a sacrifice to conjure up 44-minutes of Lo-Death/Deathcore darkness.
