Review:
Into the Boiling Darks

I first heard Rezzett in the passenger seat of a 2006 Jeep Cherokee, heading out to an art show in Philadelphia. A couple of out-of-towners—friends of a friend, skater types who had somehow backdoor-ed their way into fashion just by obsessively watching avant-garde designer runways—were running the audio through a crackling FM transmitter. Faced with the Japanese-character-adorned cover of their 2018 self-titled debut (bearing the unmistakable visual fingerprints of Tokyo streetwear label Cav Empt and its elusive graphic designer, Sk8thing) and hearing the distorted pulse of "Sexzzy Creep" push through the static, I was hooked immediately.

For years, the project operated as a rumor, a faceless entity, but Jackson Bailey and Luke Blair have long since stepped into the light. Their latest, Into the Boiling Darks, drops with the weight of an extended beat tape. Fittingly, it was initially released as a limited physical cassette for Cav Empt before expanding into a sprawling 21-track digital release that clocks in at 72 minutes. Recorded between London and Estonia, the project feels less like a tightly centered release and more like an exhibition covering their entire sonic range. Every fragment of their discography is present here, laced with a touch of hysteria that hasn't surfaced in their work quite like this before.

What follows is a definitive dose of deconstructed breaks, techno, subs, dubs, and pure saturation. Heavy-hitting tracks like "Elephant" and "Dread" carry the start of the record, laying down the gritty, sawn-off dance noise the duo is known for. "Dread" grabs hold on the very first listen, driven by a highly unorthodox call-and-response drum pattern. Instead of meshing the percussion, the track trades off—one full bar dedicated strictly to kick and bass, followed by a full bar of snares. It’s a risky pattern to sustain across an entire track, but it anchors the chaos perfectly.

Around the midpoint, the album carves a path toward the introspective. It transitions into a faded, downtempo space with cuts like "Kissing Twelve" and "Ditty." I wouldn't describe it as inherently ambient—it's more of a mildewed, down-tempo electronic crawl. Because of this sheer volume, the record can feel like a loose, experimental beat tape. At 72 minutes, it does run slightly long; the overarching architecture might have been sharper had a few cuts been set aside as singles. "Fling It," for instance, feels slightly out of place within the broader sequence.

Despite the slight bloat, the foundation remains completely solid. The back half accelerates again, proving their grip on manic, high-energy pacing. They hit full jungle techno on "In the Loneleyz" and deliver a frantic flutter on "Nirvana." If forced to pull favorites from the sprawl, "Kopli," "Bliss Up," and "Dread" sit at the top, easily ranking among the best tracks Rezzett has ever produced. "Kopli" and "Bliss Up" especially take me back to being in the passenger seat. Into the Boiling Darks is exactly what it promises: a deep, unpolished dunk into 13 years of crooked production, trading clean execution for raw, dungeon-tested grit.