Sydney’s forward-thinking bass producer makes his debut on NGHTMRE and SLANDER’s label with an experimental dubstep single that explores the duality between calm and calamity.
Sydney’s rising force Knoir makes his long-awaited debut on Gud Vibrations with “BATHER LOAD,” a piece of experimental dubstep that blurs the threshold between serenity and chaos. Out now, the track marks a bold new chapter for the Australian producer, whose sound has become synonymous with emotional volatility and surgical precision.
True to its name, “BATHER LOAD” is steeped in subaquatic tension—a track that feels submerged, as if recorded beneath the surface of its own creation. Ethereal melodies drift like refracted light through water, crystalline yet fragile, before collapsing into a dense undercurrent of distortion. The drop hits with kinetic precision: pelting sub-bass riffs collide with crisp 808s and digitized metallic percussion, forming a sonic riptide that’s as mesmerizing as it is menacing. It’s a study in duality—calm and calamity coexisting, beauty suspended inside disorder.
Written in a single session while working as a pool lifeguard, the track’s title pulls from the literal metric for measuring swimmers: “bather load”—only here the term is reimagined as a metaphor for emotional density. It channels the immense atmospheric pressure of being surrounded yet isolated, its stillness vibrating with unease beneath the surface.
Painting a vivid picture for his new single, Knoir says, “‘BATHER LOAD’ is that quiet tension. A calm that feels haunted. Surrounded by people but still somehow alone in the water.”
Already a familiar name in Australia’s bass underground, Knoir has built a reputation for hybridizing dubstep’s core DNA with touches of future bass, riddim, trap, bassline, and melodic bass—a left-of-center aesthetic defined by both aggression and grace. His growing discography includes collaborations with Mr. Bill, Beastboi, DVEIGHT, and eliderp, and his productions have drawn support from tastemakers such as SVDDEN DEATH, Porter Robinson, Joji, G Jones, Subtronics, Jon Casey, and HOL!.
The release lands amid a breakout year for Knoir, with a forthcoming Mixmag China feature and guest mix, along with a hometown performance alongside Leotrix this December. For an artist built on tension and transformation, “BATHER LOAD” captures both: it’s a spectral collision of melody and menace that redefines what dubstep can sound like when emotion becomes the driving frequency.
Knoir’ new single “BATHER LOAD” is available on all platforms via Gud Vibrations.
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