I discovered Reid Willis somewhere around 2019/2020 while searching for new music to listen to. I hadn't really delved into electronic music much before. There were some artists I liked at the time throughout secondhand sources, but the genre never engaged with me on the same level metal did.
This song was the one to change my perception of electronic music entirely.
You wouldn't know it from most of his music, but Reid Willis was a classically-trained pianist before he was an electronic music producer. He picked up music production in his teens and never stopped. His old releases, in my opinion are hit and miss, but starting from 2013's The Sunken Half and onward, I'd be hard-pressed to find a song from his discography that wasn't an absolute save to my library.
He considers his music "maximalist"βtexture-heavy, massive soundscapes that are dripping with cinematic flair, making every song feel at home in a movieβand the more recent the releases, the more you hear how his sound has evolved.
Willis reinforces what I love about music. I love that a song can make you not only feel things, but envision entire worlds if it hits just right. I get this feeling a lot from all the music I listen to, and it's a stone-carved reason why it holds such an important place in my personal life. Metal holds a special place in my heart for the broad spectrum of emotions it's able to invoke in me.
But, artists like Sunnk, Arthur Hnatek, Recue, Djrum, Snakes of Russia, and Reid Willisβthey will forever hold the throne.
Australian guitarist Bodine Wirihana is very little known, but one listen to his music will tell that he shreds like no one else.
His songs swing on a pendulum from thoughtful and emotive to chaotic and intense, but each one is carefully crafted to showcase his insane technical ability.