Roly Porter

After his time as one half of Vex’d during the ‘golden era’ of UK dubstep, Bristol’s Roly Porter, embarked on a solo career, composing epic, atmospheric electronic music alongside his brethren of Subtext Recordings with LPs including Aftertime, Life Cycle of a Massive Star and Third Law, sonically portraying the awe inspired by our inner and outer universes. 2016’s Third Law, released on Tri Angle Records, is a stunning mass of choral voices, strings, and synthesizers punctuated by pulverizing percussive bursts, almost attacking the listener at the most tension-filled moments, as if emanating deep from within the planet’s core.

In June 2020, Subtext released Porter’s fourth solo studio album, ‘Kistvaen’, exploring ancient burial rites from the moorlands of southwestern England, which features the work vocalists trained in local singing traditions. ‘Kistvaen’ contrasts primordial motifs with that of the 21st-century life in designed environments and an evolving virtual existence. The music blurs boundaries between field recording, folk instrumentation and digital processing, which although beatless creates a profound effect using dark ambiance, deep electronics, and immersive sound design. This otherworldly sonic necromancy, where long dormant spirits are evoked, is brought to life in front of audiences with the masterful film and light work of MFO and powerful performance of vocalist Mary-Anne Roberts.