Let the Night Roar

King Cannibal is an alternate alias for Dylan Richards, who also works on the U.K. electronic scene as Zilla. LET THE NIGHT ROAR mixes jungle, drum 'n' bass, and dubstep into a roaring, booming storm of thunderous beats, internal-organ-shifting bass sounds, and horror movie dialogue samples. The cumulative effect is not all that different from what a lot of other producers in this genre have been doing, from Witchman in the '90s to Kode9 and Kevin Martin in the 2000s. But as with techno or most other electronic subgenres, individual creativity is only part of the equation--producers and performers are always contributing to an overall discourse, creating tracks destined to be mixed and beat-matched by DJs. This album's merits as an album (and it has them) are secondary to its utility as fodder for late-night mixes. With that said, it does hold up as a discrete listening experience. Richards' drum programming doesn't have the assaultive harshness of Martin's work, and his melodies, such as they are, lack the woozy, soporific drag of Kode9's dubstep trances, but his music does quite ably create visions of late-night alleys and rainy streets filled with threat and promise, which seems to be the point of this branch of U.K. dance music.