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My thoughts on Monstercat 001-030

Music · Dec 1st, 2024

So, lately I've been on a nostalgia trip, meaning I've been on a quest to listen to music from 10 years ago. And that is primarily Touhou and Monstercat. Touhou is a different beast, which I am not ready to talk about yet, so I am just mentioning its name and leaving that as it is. Monstercat on the other hand is just music, and it's easy to just talk about music.

For context, back then I was really into Minecraft, which is the primary reason in my interest in programming nowadays. Anyway, YouTubers back then were using Monstercat music. These YouTubers shall not be named, for reasons that if you know you know. And as the music fanatic (snob) that I am, it was only a matter of time before I would check out this music.

So what is Monstercat? Simply put, a record label. Monstercat was founded in 2011. To this day, they release EDM tracks of different genres from various artists. Initially, they were simply a friends group. But the label expanded massively to include many other artists. Every couple of months, they would release an album, including the previously released songs. Later they would include a continuous mix of all the songs in each album. And it's these albums that I will cover in this post.

The albums are numbered from 001 to 030. I found them between the releases of 015 and 016, and I've been continually following till around 020. So my ratings are biased around that time. Obviously, I was able to check out their previous stuff, but around 020 my interest tapered off. I've been following a few select artists, but most stuff after 020 I went into somewhat blind.

Okay, that's it with the introduction. Without further ado, I will give you my thoughts on each of these 30 albums, in chronological order. At the end of the post, I've included a tier list. Let's go!

001 Launch Week

Playlist: LINK

Ah, humble beginnings. Way before my time and thus 0 nostalgia. 001 is Monstercats first and shortest album, clocking in at only 7 songs, which in total is about half an hour. Later albums eventually become 2 hours long, but since 001 is so short, it's very easy to relisten again and again. But honestly, I rarely do so. It is easily the most amateurish album. The music is not good, and it's only interesting to see where the bar was back then. People gotta start somewhere, and I don't hold that against them. It reminds me a lot of my own music, which is charming in a sense.

So yeah, the album is not good, thus easily bottom tier.

002 Early Stage

Playlist: LINK

Highlights

More amateurishness! I am considering this album more like a continuation of the previous one, because there are more new people with about the same skill level in music production, with the exception of Matduke and Project 46. These two were definitely ahead of everyone else. Their presence and quality of music gave me a huge whiplash. Noisestorm is also a notable artists. Long before I was aware of Monstercat, I knew about him and his music. Hearing his song Airwaves really hit my nostalgia. But other than that, it's till an amateurish album, without the historical significance of 001. I was constantly thinking, that this is pretty much "Dubstep before it was cool". It doesn't even come close to Brostep, and I am very thankful for that. All my homies hate Skrillex after all. One thing I am surprised about is how similar Stephen Walking sounds like to later in his career. His experience and quality obviously got better, but the style kept pretty much the same.

003 Momentum

Playlist: LINK

Highlights

The quality starts to improve. Again, Matduke is much more ahead than the others. Shivers is the best song on this album and easily one of the best songs on Monstercat ever. I think this is the album where Monstercat is gaining momentum, pun not intended. Like, the music is still amateurish, but it's starting to gain character. I like the songs in the beginning and I really vibe with it. It's amazing. And then it rips the band-aid off with the drop of Obsidia - Android, which whiplashed me into fucking oblivion. It's so disjointed from the first 3 songs, which I find absolutely hilarious. The album drops off a bit in the end and it becomes somewhat boring. Though, Stephen Walking definitely does not drop off. Top Of The World is definitely one of his best songs. I understand why out of his entire discography, this is the one he decided to remaster 2 years later. Absolute legend.

004 Identity

Playlist: LINK

Highlights

Very forgettable. I don't think 004 has a single good track. As such, I don't have much to say about it. The only thing I want to note is DotEXE - Run Away From Me. Its melody reminds me of a German pop song, which I wont name, because the song is garbage and I hate it. However, I really like the melody, and I've considered multiple times to remix the song. But for that, I need to get back to making music, which I can't, because I'm a masochist. Other than that, Neilio - Outside This World is decent and worth mentioning.

005 Evolution

Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

First album that got a continuous mix. And to be honest, this album is an absolute banger. It's full to the brim with amazing tracks. While still at an amateurish level, the quality is good enough to be recommended wholeheartedly. And the transitions between the songs are very decent, which is commendable. Ahem, 010, ahem. I can't stress enough how much I love this album. Arion - Internet Rebellion probably radicalized me. Today I am very much in favor of abolishing copyright. With his remix, Muzzy introduced me to Kings Of The City, a band which disbanded, but which I hold to a very high regard. Also, 23 - Fresh goes so hard. Tristam is amazing. And so much more songs, that are all "Dubpstep before it was cool".

All around a very solid album. I recommend it. A-Tier.

006 Embrace

Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

One of the first albums I bought was Monstercat Best of 2012. This was mainly laziness, as it included many past songs. Listening to the Best-of, I didn't need to actually listen to all the previous albums. I am mentioning this, because 006 is the first album that has tracks on this Best-of album. With 001 - 004, I mostly felt indifference and slight annoyance, but with 006 and the albums thereafter, I could do one of these. But other than that, the album is somewhat underwhelming. It has some absolute bangers, like Televisor, who never disappoints. Hot Date! & Chrisson - Overcome (This Time) is amazing. But other than that, I am not really feeling this album. Now typing this out and only seeing my picked highlights, I can't remember anything else about this album.

007 Solace

Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Tristam - I Remember
Overwerk - House
Feint & Boyinaband feat. Veela - Time Bomb
Tut Tut Child - Maelstrom

Order Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

The first 2-hour album! Split between two mixes, each being one hour long. This will be the standard for all remaining albums. More music!

Anyway, 012 is decent. B-Tier. Everything is good, but nothing on it really wows me. I keep batting on transitions, but that's because a good one can go a long way. What I mean by that, take the transition between Day One - World's End and Tut Tut Child - Hummingbird (feat. Augustus Ghost) as an example. Here's a link with a timestamp: https://youtu.be/MD3ROlR6k8I?t=312. Honestly, this is THE best transitions on all Monstercat albums. Period. The scales between the songs don't quite match, resulting in some very harsh dissonance. Combine that with the low energy of World's End and it achieves some really deep sadness. But then it cuts, which suddenly resolves the dissonance. Immediately afterwards the vocalist on Hummingbird goes strong and loud. This clash of dissonance being resolved and the mix shifting into such a high gear is simply amazing.

013 Awakening

Dawn Album Mix: LINK

Dusk Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Very good album. I was surprised by how much I liked it actually. I was at first very torn giving it A or B-Tier. But now relistening to the highlights, I am placing it much higher in solid of A-Tier. 013 graced us with this absolute Masterpiece: Stephen Walking - Short Shorts. The music video is simply brilliant. Stephen Walking proved to us that he is indeed worthy of his name. One thing that you might know about me, is that I don't have a driver's license. I am literally walking everywhere. Maybe, just maybe, this video radicalized me to a point that I never considered getting a driver's license. Nonetheless, Short Shorts is funny, and I love it.

Very cool album. Out of all of the ones in this nostalgia trip, 013 is the one I already went back to multiple times. I think I've found a new favorite.

014 Discovery

Odyssey Album Mix: LINK

Journey Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Decent Album. Nothing to complain about. But somewhat forgettable. It has not many cool tracks that I celebrate. It's main saving grace is twofold: First, it was one of the albums I owned as a kid, and second, I freaking love DnB. Even though I am fairly familiar with it, I just can't love this album. The transitions are super smooth. Especially between Razihel - Bad Boy and Bustre - Riftwalk, or Mr FijiWiji & Direct - Hysteria and Televisor - Dream Soda. Here are the transitions if you wanna listen:

Retrospectively, I am surprised by how much DnB is in the Odyssey mix. If it weren't for that, I probably would've given this album C-Tier. One thing that I am very proud about myself is my very broad taste in music. I am not stupid enough to claim that I listen to all genres, but I listen to heck of a lot. But if I had to pick a favorite, it's probably DnB. From Jungle to Intelligent DnB, early Breakcore or modern Breakcore, Neurofunk or whatever other DnB subgenres there are, I just fucking love breakbeats. Funnily enough, I put no DnB songs into 014s highlights lol. Probably because single DnB songs are rarely bangers, and entire mixes are usually much more enjoyable. As a kid, I remember not really enjoying Bustres kind of DnB. But now that I am older, his DnB matches more to what I've linked above, and Bustre is now one of my all-time favorites. How time changes.

Odyssey is definitely the better half of this album. Journey is mid.

015 Outlook

Reflection Album Mix: LINK

Visionary Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

A-Tier. Easily. As the last album before I discovered Monstercat, it was foreseeable that I rank this one highly, no? Good tracks. Decent transitions and oh my god, the nostalgia! I cannot stress enough how much this album hit the spot. But even with my rose-tinted glasses, I couldn't put it into S-Tier. It has some very odd songs, which are really hit or miss. But my nostalgia makes up for it. I enjoy this album very much.

016 Expedition

Arrival Album Mix: LINK

Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Oh boy. The first album after I discovered Monstercat. For me, this hits, and it hits hard. I know all the songs by heart. Even the ones that I didn't like at first have finally grown on me. The songs are amazing. The transitions are great. All around a very awesome package. Out of all albums, choosing the highlights for this was stupendously difficult. Because no matter how I choose, I had to sacrifice all the other songs I loved. If you allow my indulgence, I want to write a small paragraph for each song and why I chose it. Thanks.

Rezonate - Canvas is possibly the most chill song I've ever heard. And it's catchy! While I enjoy calm music from time to time, it isn't my first pick when I want to listen or share "good music". I want to be stimulated, and calm music does the opposite: It relaxes. Canvas is not like that. It penetrates my unfair standard that I've set for my blog post and I always look forward to this song when listening to 016. The best song Monstercat has ever released is Ramases B - Transformations, which is on 016 but not on my list, because it didn't fit the vibe of what I am going for here. But if it weren't for Transformations, Canvas is the best song on 016.

Tristam was always a fan favorite. His music is melodic and grandiose. When I first heard Once Again 10 years ago, it was weird. Like the harmony was something I've never heard before. It didn't resolve immediately and it really isn't that dissonant. It's a flavor that stuck with me. Today I'm into much more weird stuff than in the past, but Once Again was a first for me. The ending of the song is absolutely brilliant. When the last drop is a 10 in terms of energy, then outro is an 11. It always gives me chills.

Bustre - Shadow had to grow on me. As I've said in 014, Bustre was definitely not my favorite. His DnB simply didn't have the punch like all the others, and it is comically simple. The song has drums, and it has bass. But with time, I started to appreciate simplicity. In music and in life aswell. Now, being so deep in the DnB rabbit hole that I am, Shadow is probably one of my most favorite DnB tracks. The drums are brutal. The bass is disgusting. Everything around it gives it an atmospheric feeling. The descending synths in the background are very eerie. But the best part is the second drop, where the bass doesn't even try to play a melody anymore and slowly descends, while the percussion just hammers it into you. It's amazing. It really is.

I do like me some complicated music, Math Rock for example. But for the love of god, I couldn't make or play it. My musical talent peaked in school. I produced a bit of synth stuff, but now I am just programming and my musical ability begins to fade. No matter though, other people can play funky chords for me. 7 Minutes Dead is difficult to describe. His style is so unlike everything else. Different to Monstercat, and different to everything outside of it. I can't compare it to anything I know, I just can't. Peacock doesn't seem to have structure? It has a beat, but it constantly switches, stops playing and starts again. No parts repeat, and melodies weave in and out. Half way in and I think: "Wait, this sounds completely different from how this song started!" But it works. It works so well.

Lets Be Friends - FTW doesn't get a novel like above. It is simply bonkers. Very hype. Very loud. I directly blame this song for the shit I like today and my love for autistic furry music.

017 Ascension

Abyss Album Mix: LINK

Zenith Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Ascension is quite a funny name, considering the cat in the album art is literally underground. But I digress. I have some unreasonable hate for this album. I remember vividly when 017 came out, people really liked it. But it just didn't grok with me. It has some insanely popular tracks, with millions of views each, but I somehow just can't enjoy this album. As such, 017 marks a turning point in my tier list. Every album that I rate below below 017 is an album that I don't quite enjoy. And if I want to listen to Monstercat, I'd much rather pick anything above 017.

Nevertheless, one song I want to single out is exactly Pegboard Nerds - Hero (feat. Elizaveta). This one will always be stuck in my head, because of Corridor Digitals video Superman With a GoPro, which in my opinion is one of the best videos on YouTube of all time. It's a rather simple video, especially nowadays, as drones have become quite ubiquitous. But they weren't that common back in the day, especially for amateur YouTubers. Either way, the effect works and the video is such a joy to watch.

Other than that, Tristam & Braken - Frame of Mind is an absolutely amazing song. It's up there, with the best of the best songs on Monstercat.

018 Frontier

Horizon Album Mix: LINK

Pinnacle Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

It surprised me. And I really did not expect this. But, 018 is breathtakingly amazing. I remember that I never had any problems with this album. I didn't expect much, and I kinda forgot about it. But I was genuinely surprised by how well everything fits. Relistening to it blew me away so much, I am honestly ranking this one higher than 016.

Here's the thing: Whenever I tell people about what music I listen to, I always stress how important albums are. Not playlists that you create yourself, but albums that are created by the artist. Single songs are highlights at best, but the whole picture is much more enjoyable when it tells a story. A good album has ups and downs, with highs and lows. The lower the lows, the higher the highs. For example, one of my most favorite albums is Cardiacs - Sing to God. This album easily sits in my top 3. It goes so hard, loud and crazy so many times. But it can only go this hard, because it also goes equally silent. You can only be loud in relation to something else, because the listener controls the volume knob.
On the radio, every song competes with every other. As such, the loudness wars are under way with every song trying to be better than the other. The result is that everything is equally loud. The listener turns the volume knob down, and now all the songs are silent. Bummer. But in a well-constructed album, you can deliberately hit pauses, and with them you can reach amazing highs, that you could never do with the stupid radio.

Where was I going with this? Ah yes, 018 tells a story. The transitions are amazing, the songs flow so well into each other, from house, to future bass and back to hard hitting hardstyle. 010 may have good songs, but it absolutely fell flat with the story. 018 may not have that many good tracks, but it makes up for it by having absolutely stellar composition. The highs hit hard, because the Future Bass tracks in between provide a calm and necessary rest.

One of the highlights I want to single out is Grabbitz - Here With You Now. Upon on release, I hated the drop of this song. But repetition legitimizes, and I started to like the song the more I listen to it. Grabbitz in general makes very cool tracks, that have amazing verses and buildups, and then just go fucking apeshit with the drop. It's almost comical how annoying his drops are, but I started to appreciate it.

019 Endeavour

Aspire Album Mix: LINK

Venture Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Mixed feelings on this album. It has some very questionable songs, that are not fun to listen to. They are just so distracting to everything else. But what made me give 019 A-Tier anyway, is because of Didrick. Jesus fucking Christ my dude, his Monstercat Live Performance is pure nostalgia, concentrated up to a lethal level. I wasn't really enjoying 019 as a whole, but then this compilation plays as the last track, and it hits me like a fucking truck. I was so high in my nostalgia trip, and this song just amplified it further. I had to stop everything I was doing and I just listened to the damn song. I had this stupid shit eating grin across my face. I recognized all the catchphrases, the samples, all the melodies, and after it was over I was exhausted. I have never taken drugs before, but that's how I imagine it to be. God damn.

So yeah, the album is mid. Not so good. But this single song elevated it to a higher tier.

020 Altitude

Elevation Album Mix: LINK

Stratosphere Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Ah, the beginning of an end. After this album my interest in Monstercat dropped. I continued to listen to songs after that, but my consumption gradually declined. I followed a few select artists, like Puppet or Karma Fields, but my interest faded eventually. I discovered Caravan Palace and Modest Mouse, my taste went on a wild journey and I haven't listened to EDM for quite a while after that. Anyway, 020 is full of many amazing house tracks, similar to 011. I wouldn't call 020 peak, but with as solid as it is, I must put it very close to 011. Afterall, 011 was also full of house tracks, so the styles kinda match.

I have to highlight Vicetone - What I've Waited For (feat. D. Brown), which also is the best of the best. Absolutely amazing song. While I haven't returned to 020 that often, I routinely come back to this one exact song.

Also, did I seriously put Top Of The World into the Highlights again? Hell yeah I did!

021 Perspective

Aspect Album Mix: LINK

Vantage Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

The last album I know most songs from, and the last mix I listened to during my Monstercat phase. Back then, it was the first one that did not manage to convince me to buy it. Tracks are mostly forgettable. No nostalgia. Nothing. I don't have much more to say about it. 021 is not ass, but it isn't good either. Vantage is definitely the better half of this album, the other sucks in comparison. But I want to single out two songs: Draper - Pressure (feat. Laura Brehm) is one of Monstercats all time greats. After all this time, I still knew all the lyrics by heart, which is amazing. But speeding up the end of it in the mix really annoyed me. And Haywyre - Insight is the goat. It's Haywyres best song, and since it's actually performed, it's such a joy to watch him go apeshit on his keyboard.

022 Contact

Connection Album Mix: LINK

Essence Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

The first album I only know half the songs on. I never listened to the 022 mix in my Monstercat phase. Somewhat forgettable. The tracks don't stick in my head. With as far as Monstercat has come with its quality in sound production, I can't put 022 anything below B-Tier. Puppet is an artist that I've kept following for a bit. With Scribble on 020 and The Fire on 022 he collaborated with and thus introduced me to EDEN. EDEN makes sad music, filled with angst. That shit was emo enough already, and fortunately I didn't go deeper than that in this style of music. Other than that, I have literally nothing else to say on 022.

023 Voyage

Passage Album Mix: LINK

Excursion Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Muzzy - Feeling Stronger (feat. Charlotte Colley) (High Maintenance Remix)
Aero Chord - 4U
Nitro Fun - Final Boss
Laszlo - Law Of The Jungle ⚠ VOLUME WARNING ⚠
Pegboard Nerds - Swamp Thing

For some reason, the YouTube video for Laszlo - Law Of The Jungle is much louder than everything else. It's a cool song, but be careful.

Label me surprised. To my amazement, I recognize quite a few songs on 023. I was certain after 021 most would be new to me. But to my utter shock, quite a significant amount of songs I was already familiar with. And to top it off, it's quite a solid album. I wanted to write everything after 021 off as trash, not worth listening to. But 023 proved to me otherwise. The Passage mix starts very strong, but then at the half time mark it just bombs. I simply hate Rootkit - Concrete Jungle. I mean, wtf is this song?

024 Vanguard

Forefront Album Mix: LINK

Presage Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Dogshit album. There I said it. With 023 I had very high hopes to enjoy later parts of Monstercat. Unfortunately, I was greatly disappointed. I boasted about my broad music taste. But there is a specific kind of music, that I vocally hate: Pop music. I hate what it is, how it is made, the people and companies behind it, it's role in society, everything.

As someone who knows how the sausage is made, nothing infuriates me more than people pretending to sound good or talented, when in fact they are not. It's all a large game of pretend. I know one or two people, who sometimes share music with me, and it's always some stupid music video of some person playing the guitar in the video and "their amazing voice", but then the song is the most overproduced bullshit imaginable. Do you know how many effects are put on vocals? More than you can guess. And for what? To sound "natural"? Dude, the moment you put an EQ on a vocal it isn't natural anymore!

I don't hate the effects. Take Draper - Coloured Glass. The pitch correction on that gives it that tactile sound which is quite interesting. Or dial it up to 11 and do what 100 gecs is doing. Layer it, put a chorus on top and you'll end up with something like Fox Stevenson. Everything super artificial, but everything very amazing. No I don't hate the effects. I hate that pop pretends that this is what a natural "talented" singer sounds like. My hate on pop is so significant, that if it remotely sounds "too good", it creates this visceral disrespect deep in my soul. I'd much prefer creative usages of effects, or little to no effects at all.

But this is what 024 is. It sounds too much like pop. And as such I hate it. And the stuff that does not sound like pop is just bland. 024 has one or two good songs, especially Feint - We Won't Be Alone, which is one of Monstercats all time greats. But everything that is not in my highlights is trash. If 001 - 004 wouldn't be so amateurish and low in sound quality, 024 would be bottom tier.

025 Threshold

Collision Album Mix: LINK

Encounter Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

I like this album. Very much actually. 024 really gave me the scare, and so did the album cover of 025. The album covers were always somewhat meaningless, but with 025 - 030, Monstercat introduced this evil cat and something of a little story. This scared me, because before listening to 025 - 030, I thought the evil cat represented Brostep. Fortunately, this is not the case, ahem 028 ahem, and I really liked what 025 ended up being. Grabbitz again is absolutely phenomenal with Better With Time. If I wasn't already, now I really started to love Grabbitz and his music. Also I want to mention Karma Fields, which I was very familiar with already, and hold to high regard. His and MORTENs song Stickup (feat. Juliette Lewis) doesn't hit me as odd. It's that experimental unique style that he puts on the table.

All in all, 025 is a very great album, and I am really giving it S-tier. I fully expected to write off all albums after 021 as trash, especially after the 024 scare, but I am delightfully surprised.

026 Resistance

Defiance Album Mix: LINK

Submission Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Too much like pop, simmelar to 024. 026 is the better album of the two, but not by much. It's annoying, bland and simply forgettable. I don't recommend it. Since I chewed 024 out already, there is not much more to say about 026.

Karma Fields is amazing and definitely the best thing about this album. The others just don't hit as hard. I also want to touch on San Holo for a moment. His music is also very different from anything that came before, and his song Victory is simply amazing. Victory is on 022, but didn't make the cut in the highlights, because the other artists were simply better. Quite a shame. In 026 San Holo easily made the list, because 026 provided absolutely no competition.

027 Cataclysm

Trials Album Mix: LINK

Tribulations Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Oha. This is the album with Marshmello on it. Honestly, I don't know much about the guy, Alone is literally the only song I know from him. Probably because it was on Monstercat lol. And despite my vitriol against pop, I don't dismiss this song. Honestly, I am even giving it a pass, and somehow, it fits very well inside the entire album. Even though it's somewhat cringe, It's decent as a standalone song.

So while Marshmello stole the show, 027 in it's entirety is nothing that I hate. As such, it gets solid B-Tier. Not above 017 though, as even though there is nothing bad on it, there is not much good on it either. And my 0 nostalgia towards 027 is really dragging it down.

028 Uproar

Tyranny Album Mix: LINK

Supremacy Album Mix: LINK

Highlight

WRLD - By Design

The bottom of the barrel. We have reached it. I absolutely despise this album. Even more than the atrocious 010 continuous mix. Where to even begin?

I vividly remember EDM going into a very crazy direction, aka Brostep. But as I said already, all my homies hate Skrillex. So, first things first, 028 doesn't start well with the absolute worst drop I have ever heard in my entire life. It isn't fun, rhythmically interesting, or enjoyable in any way. It's just some batshit crazy drop and that's it. The album has more songs like this, and the other half is more pop shit. One questionable song after the other, and it just doesn't stop. Out of all the albums on this blog post, this one I really don't want to listen to.

And the ironic part is, that 028 doesn't want to live me alone. It's in my recommendations to this day. It pops up every day. It probably does this, because I am still flirting with the idea to just listen to it 100 times, so that the repetition-legitimization kicks in. And it does have probably the coolest cover out of all the Monstercat albums, even to this day, with their newer stuff. It's glorious and evil. The red tint really makes it look menacingly.

I noted in 025 how I was scared about the evil cat subplot, because I thought it represented this awful kind of Brostep. 028 is probably the main reason for that fear. The first song just doesn't go down well. I did check on Monstercat a few times, even after 021. But 028 was the last thing before my nostalgia trip. I really thought this is the end of Monstercat, and Brostep took over.

029 Havoc

Fury Album Mix: LINK

Retribution Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

Okay, things took a rather sad turn with 028. But there is light at the end of the tunnel: With my interest into Monstercat completely dead after 028, I was able to hear 029 and 030 completely blind. Literally the only song I knew was Karma Fields - Sweat, because as should be clear by now, I really like the music from this dude. But if you've never heard Sweat before, it really does not help the image of Monstercat going into a weird and bad direction.

However, to my utter surprise, 029 is actually very cool. Instead continuing with Brostep, it pivoted hard into Growlstep. And Growlstep is fucking amazing. Instead of just doing stupid ridiculous drops, it's relishing in the filthy and disgusting basslines and reshapes them into nice harmonics and very catchy rhythms. So while 029 is probably the weirdest Monstercat album between 001 and 030 (maybe even all time, honestly I have no fucking clue about anything after 030), it's definitely one of the better albums. Similar to 013, I now routinely come back to it and I think I've found a new favorite.

But as much as I like 029, it has proven itself to be strange enough. When shared with friends, they demand me to stop and request something else. Funny how that turned out.

Solid A-Tier. Very good album.

030 Finale

Overture Album Mix: LINK

Epilogue Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

And thus we have reached the end. And it isn't a bad ending at all. 030 is quite a stellar album! In retrospect, the evil cat subplot does make sense. Monstercat has gotten somewhat weird and poppy between 025 and 029. But 030 completely escapes that. This album really feels like old Monstercat, but with modern high-quality mixing. So even though I knew literally no songs on it, it did feel somewhat nostalgic.

I want to mention the squeaking chair in Hush - Pilvorm, which I find absolutely hilarious. I don't know, something about originally irritating, but looping sounds, which blend into the music, are just very fun. Repetition legitimizes after all. Reminds me a lot of Cowboy Bebop OST 1 - Piano Black.

The absolute highlight here is the last song, Gareth Emery & Standerwick - Saving Light (feat. HALIENE). It's so triumphant and confident, tying the story together and showcasing the last victory over the evil cat. But it also marks a change, as this song definitely sounds more mainstream than anything else on the label. Also it's absolutely bathed in reverb. What is this? SLIFT?

Bonus <3

Uncaged Vol. 1

Album Mix: LINK

Highlights

After 030, Monstercat rebranded. This was probably for the better. As 025 - 030 demonstrated, Monstercat wanted to bring in many new people and styles, and multiple channels allowed them to specialize. Monstercat also got rid of the 2 mixes and combined them into one. I was always listening to both mixes anyway. Highlights were pretty difficult to find for this album, because Monstercat has perfected their mixing to such a level, that it's very difficult to tell songs apart. Where does one song end and where does another start? As someone who doesn't know any of the songs, the whole mix really does feel like some continuum, and I condone that.

However, even though I did give some albums after Uncaged Vol. 1 a fair shot, I decided that Monstercat simply isn't for me anymore. I have my nostalgia, and will go back to 007, 018, 016 and 025 many times, but everything after Uncaged Vol. 1 doesn't interest me in the slightest, regardless how good the music may be.

Before I leave, I want to mention Unlike Pluto - Everything Black (feat. Mike Taylor). When Mike sings "black diamonds" in the buildup before the drop, I mishear "black garbage". I can't be the only one, no? Doesn't change that the song is an absolute banger though. But I find it it still hilarious.

Conclusion

And with this, my thoughts are concluded. Below is a tier list, combining every of my thoughts into an easy to reference image. Tracks to the left in the same tier are considered to be higher. I.e. 007 is better than 018.

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