krystov’s dword is an absolute pleasure to listen to. Picture, if you will, a Sony Playstation 2 hooked up through a Marshall amplifier and you come close to what you will encounter when listening to this CD.

First and foremost the breakbeats are unrelenting, distorted mania especially on the “Sultanis” track. But that is not say that krystov is going down the Atari Teenage Riot road most travelled. While ATR was concerned with being musically and politically abrasive, krystov has flavoured his distorted beats and bass with ear candy by including sometimes clean melodic synthesizers and orchestral samples. It is a sonic tug of war, but a battle worth getting involved in.

Also there is no room for verbal politicking as this is an instrumental affair. The song titles such as “Jesus Uzi” and “Lostfaith” can give you some insight into what is going on inside Damien Krystov’s mind.

Secondly, the styles of Electronic music that krystov has composed for this CD would be suitable across the film, dance floor, and home stereo platforms. It is music that can fit all occasions – even dinner parties if you are so inclined. Some of these differing styles are represented by the Drill N’ Bass of “Blush”, the Epic Ambient / Techno on “Vehement Icon” and a bit of the orchestral combined with distorted breaks as on “Gensect”.

The only drawback to dword is that at 19 tracks the CD can seem never ending while sitting in one listen. However that is only a minor issue since there is absolutely no filler to be found anywhere in dword. Every track is of the highest quality composition with extreme attention to detail.

In the field of Electronic music, krystov is the name to watch. He is innovative and more importantly he has the ability to compose memorable music with his own distinct voice.

STANDOUT TRACKS: “Sultanis”, “Gensect”, “Vehement Icon”

The latest release from Krystov, "Dword," swings into action with crashing drill'n'bass infiltrated by aggressive, Atari-style distortions and bleeps. This rather jarring beginning sets the stage for an array of influences, from industrial and rhythmic noise to IDM, while much of the album remains suitably textured with plenty of drill'n'bass attitude. Rhythms throughout the work are upfront and energetic, providing an often solid foundation over which Krystov layers darkly articulate and bass-heavy counter melodies, percolating synth lines and brimming atmospherics.
On "Dword," Krystov is strongest when moody orchestrations of strings and piano combine to play counterpoint to abrasive, staccato beats ("Sensory Dysfunction" and "Xorsix"), a balancing effect equally powerful in the gritty, unsettling ambience found in slower-paced pieces ("Vehement Icon" and "Digililly"). He is weakest when he chooses to forsake these lush, well-executed symphonic elements and endeavors instead to explore unadulterated high bpm noise and glitch. Songs like "Dword" (the title track, no less), "Lost Faith" and "Sungod" would have better served the album with their exclusion. However, certainly moments of refreshing interest are certainly scattered about on this release. "Pteroptyx" is reminiscent of the familiar and menacing Grooverider (circa "Where's Jack the Ripper?") drum 'n bass lower end, the closing minute of "Compound" pays tribute to classic acid-techno with mesmerizing effect, and "Gunmetal Rosé" is a welcome diversion in spine-tingling, grinding experimental electronics.
One drawback of "Dword" is its longer duration, which creates a virtual overdose of material. Taken as a whole, the album isn't particularly engaging and generally lacks cohesive progression, which my attention span finds difficulty in assimilating. By Track 12, despite the fact I've only heard roughly two-thirds of the work, my mind is wandering. Combine that with the fact that several weaker pieces somehow got lumped in the latter part of the disc, almost as an afterthought, and "Dword" effectively loses my interest before running its entire course. That's not to say Krystov doesn't have several gems of power electronics here ("Sultanis" and "Gensect" come to mind), but more often than not I find quality takes precedence over quantity and wish he had kept "Dword" shorter.

Even though over time, electronic music has tended to lean towards a consistent, baseline approach, making the discovery of innovative albums which still manage to bend and warp expectations more challenging, the artist "Krystov" has definitely jumped off the page and made an album of noticeable creativity. Standing out in his open-minded experimental use of anything and everything at his fingertips, he manages to always blend and combine distinctly different- even opposite- music styles and sounds in ways that while feeling heterogenous, fall together perfectly, much like the organized chaos of a kaleidoscope. Random colors and shapes fall where they will, mixing differently with each different perspective you take, and yet, all along there is still a sense of an overall picture holding together miraculously. Even with echoes of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, "Dword" stands on its own as a noteworthy experimental album.

Production guru Krystov is a master at the art of experimentation. Taking the basic elements of drum 'n' bass (sped-up breakbeats, chopped-up vocals) and teasing out the rhythms from a wide range of genres, his wild digital manipulations are edging toward a new interpretation of electronic music.