Album Review: Sampology - Doomsday Deluxe

The title of opener, Time For The End, isn't flipping the script on conventional album sequencing – it's there as a signal of conceptual intent from Brisbane DJ/producer/uber-talented freak Sampology, his debut longplayer, Doomsday Deluxe, tying in with the accompanying Super Visual Apocalypse AV/DJ tour. The intro strains of its successor, Eagle Theme, sound like a slightly ramshackle synthetic rendering of an overblown rock opera overture circa 1972, moving from triumphantly bombastic to stabby hip hop synths to booty-bumping bass drums with such ease that you suspect Sampology hit the studio that day in full wizard's regalia.

Elsewhere, Hannah Macklin's vocal sends Stars into crossover bass music territory with dramatic flourishes favourably recalling the recent output of SBTRKT and Rustie (but with enough personality of its own to set it apart), while Attack Of The Cats is an unclassifiable – and utterly brilliant – ode to atomic kittens that could only have come to be in this wonderful digital age of ours. And while space age synths and half-time vibes are the major flavours at play, when UK MC Serocee steps up on Around The Globe, you could be forgiven for thinking a turn of the century junglist was manning the production desk.

Working from a limited sound palette gives the ten-track Doomsday Deluxe collection a singular sonic feel, yet you don't get the feeling this has held Sampology back creatively. If anything, he shoots in all the directions you'd expect over just 34 minutes but rarely for long enough, making this feel more like a sampler of his skills than an album proper. If that's coming, though, there's enough promise here to make the follow-up a tasty proposition indeed – if only the apocalypse holds off long enough for it to see the light of day.