Review Summary: If you want a headache within the next 20 minutes, then this EP is for you.
43 of 59 thought this review was well writtenSkrillex – you’ve heard the name. At the very least you’ve heard ‘Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites,' well that’s assuming you’ve left your house within the last two years. He is most famous for his commercial success with dubstep, a style that differentiates itself from other electronic subgenres by focusing less on the ‘bleeps’ and more on the ‘wubs,' for lack of a better description. His breakthrough EP
Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites had its fair share of track picks and his following EPs had at least one worthwhile song on each release. With his 2012 EP
Make It Bun Dem After Hours, he took the ‘one worthwhile song’ idea to a whole new level by making an EP with only one song (and six remixes). Except the difference is that it’s not worthwhile in the slightest.
The original ‘Make It Bun Dem’ is a collaboration effort between Skrillex and Bob Marley’s youngest son Damian Marley – it's essentially their attempt at honoring dubstep's roots but coming across as more of a disgrace than anything. Gone are Skrillex’s catchy hooks and gut-punching drops; in their place are onerous reggae chants and repetitive, simply uninspired beats. The remixes themselves don’t do enough different to the original song to make it worth hearing again, let alone six more times with each time being more vomit inducing than the last. Thankfully there are some instrumental breaks from the awful sampling of Damian’s vocals in the French Fries and Flinch remixes, which are nothing special by themselves but when surrounded by the filth that encompasses the rest of the EP, these small breaks are somewhat of a godsend.
Honestly there really is nothing redeemable about
Make It Bun Dem After Hours. If I had to say something that’s even remotely positive about this EP, it would be that it’s not entirely Skrillex’s fault in that technically he only had input on one song, but the sole fact that he would release such an abomination to the world says a lot about where he is in his career: he peaked way too soon. Now he’s left releasing EPs like this to squeeze every bit of profit he can out of his dying profession before he (hopefully) fades into obscurity. I recommend this EP to absolutely no one, unless you desperately want to get a headache within 20 minutes, in which case
Make It Bun Dem After Hours may be exactly what you’re looking for.
