The crisp rolling breaks, anthemic hooks, and raging bass lines of London’s Metrik have served as the sound bed to his ever-popular, high-energy cinematic take on drum’n’bass, from his 2007 debut through to his 2020 album Ex Machina.
Growing up in London, Metrik (aka Tom Mundell) first found his way into music through the punk rock of the Offspring and Less Than Jake — while also performing in numerous local grunge and metal bands — but it was a CD of recommendations from a friend that led him to drum’n’bass, with the disc championing the sound led by artists such as Bad Company, Dom & Roland, Teebee, and LTJ Bukem. By 2007, Mundell had adopted the Metrik guise, producing bass-heavy, rolling drum’n’bass, and releasing his debut single, “Your World,” on Intrinsic in the process. Two more singles appeared that year before Metrik found a home with Futurebound and Jaquan’s Viper Recordings. Over the next few years, Metrik issued a slew of releases with the label, including The Departure EP, “Brave New World,” “Stranger,” and “T 2000.”
With his sound pushing further into anthemic, high-energy technical drum’n’bass, Metrik soon was signed to Hospital Records, which issued his debut album, Universal Language, in 2014. Juggling his time between DJing and producing, Metrik released his second long-player, LIFE/THRILLS, in 2016; the album saw him collaborating with the likes of Elizabeth Troy, the Ragga Twins, and Gunship. Over the next couple of years, Metrik focused on his DJ sets, playing at numerous festivals and clubs across the world as well as holding down the Resident slot for a year at BBC Radio 1. By 2020, he had recorded his third full-length, Ex Machina, issuing the singles “Hackers,” “Gravity,” and “We Are the Energy” in the run-up to its midyear release. ~ Rich Wilson