REVIEW: ASC - Magnetic Fields

Atmo drum and bass maestro rounds off a winning streak of EPs with his strongest work of the year

30:14 // November 14th, 2025 // Spatial

There’s prolific, and then there’s whatever wavelength ASC has been on this year: with six EPs and two LPs in his wake (and a further LP lined up for December), this drum and bass veteran has been dishing out an absurdly consistent run of transportive breakbeat zingers, with techno and ambient forays on the side. Each release has brought an atmosphere of its own, but you’d be forgiven for baulking at the prospect of immersing yourself in his familiar arsenal of shimmering synth pads, spiralling melodies and cascading breakbeats across so many successive iterations.

His keynote LP Next Time You Fall found its way around this with intricately-constructed ‘song-like’ progressions (best heard on standouts “Say It” and “Nightvision”), but the bulk of his EPs have throttled on with percussive workouts too weighty for a chillout yet too fleet to pose an all-out assault. These are played alongside his trademark ethereal soundscapes, and though at times the soundscapes will supersede the breaks (or vice versa), ASC’s approach here is less about interplay and more about maximum mileage for both variables. Any given EP track will typically clatter through however much noirish haze or uncanny shimmer for precisely as long as its welcome permits (which typically leaves the five-minute mark well in the rearview mirror).

Of all these releases, his latest effort Magnetic Fields has proved the frontrunner for me. This in part because it’s the most intense, as heard on the aggressive chopping and pounding on “Restless Dreams”, the post-anaesthesia dentist’s drill impression enacted by phased hi-hats on “Seconds to Midnight”, or the unhinged snare patterns that carry “Everybody” (it’s a shame that the snare tone on this one is notably tinnier than anything else on this EP). Muscle has never exactly been ASC’s primary draw, but it does not hurt at all for this thing’s impact. However, those livewire kinetics are perfectly informed by its eerie atmospheres, which are far enough on the suspenseful side to fuel an entire season’s worth of histrionic crime drama. Even at its closest to a full chillout (closer “Core Memories”), Magnetic Fields‘ ethereal strings and chimes are all things eeriness and looming intrigue; this EP simply does not loosen its grip from start to finish, with next month’s Vanishing Point just cresting the horizon, everything is in place for a well-earned victory lap.

8/10

Further listening:

ASC - Next Time You Fall
Rainforest - Inner Realms
Soichi Terada - Sumo Jungle Grandeur
Arcologies - Ocean Deep