Pitch Black Prism is the new release from ever evolving musician Alias. It’s difficult to tie Alias to any one genre, while his early work would be classified as hip hop it was certainly never conventional hip hop, newer releases could be described as electronic or shoe-gaze. The description for Pitch Black Prism on his Soundcloud describe it as a winter album “built for headphones and hailstorms”. It definitely has a darker harder hitting vibe than 2008’s Resurgam.

A few years ago Alias took a step back from the grind of the music industry by taking a full time job and no longer touring. It was interesting to hear him talk about this in his interview on the Wandering Wolf podcast. I feel like this change has allowed him to make the music he enjoys making without concern of how it will come across in a live performance or if it will please fans of earlier Anticon release. With this album he has also changed his production technique creating it entirely through software using Native Instruments Machine instead of an MPC.

The album cover and song titles imply a link between sound and color. I once heard an Alias album playing in a modern art section of a museum and it was a comfortable fit with the colorful artworks. To me Pitch Black Prism has a sense of movement I think it would be a better fit at a rave or night club where there are lights and lasers constantly moving, or on headphones as you ride a bicycle though a busy neon lit district. There is a dreamy ambiance behind a consistent echoing beat that drives you though the album.