The Qemists

While the idea of a hard-edged drum & bass band might have been appealing back in '99 when Roni Size's Breakbeat Era project essentially wrote the blueprint for the style, Brit outfit the Qemists are apparently hoping that the rest of us haven't all moved on. Unfortunately, the group's love for the grimy electronic subgenre is betrayed by an awful rock sense that plays like something Fred Durst and Tommy Lee might have created way back when drum & bass was still considered progressive. Flavourless guitar drones and misplaced double-time builds mar much of the breakneck rhythms, save for a soothing piece of heady drum & bass nostalgia helped out by champ vocalist Jenna G. The Qemists actually do their best when they stray from their stated musical intentions, as in the sonic retro-futurism of the old school "Got One Life," while immense dance floor killer "Drop Audio" proves one of the few times the crew strike the proper balance on a record that does little to revitalize a genre that stopped building ages ago.