Kenyan artist
Slikback first came to the world's attention through his blistering releases on
Hakuna Kulala during the late 2010s, which resembled mutated hybrids of trap, industrial, and gqom, among other genres. Since then, he's occasionally surfaced on other labels, but has mostly worked at his own pace, dropping releases without warning while continuing to sharpen his sound design skills. By 2025, he had gotten married, fathered a child, and relocated to Poland, in addition to working with
Planet Mu, a longtime champion of forward-thinking sounds. Working at a slower pace means that he had more time to develop ideas and hone his sound design abilities.
Attrition often has suspenseful pacing reminiscent of a film or video game. The producer expertly incorporates space and silence, with dramatic pauses capturing the listener's attention, and when he does go full throttle with intense beat patterns and distortion, the impact is maximal. The complex rhythms of "Sekli" are particularly mesmerizing, while "Guerrilla" is filled with menacing bass, fragmented vocals, and beats that hit like physical punches and kicks. "Duality" is an emotional, rain-soaked battle scene, and "Trars" is an explosive, turbulent moment of terror. "Taped" is frantic and exhilarating, with traces of dubstep bass fluttering below the rapidly skittering beats. "Sheltered" sets loud, stuttering bursts to a gqom-like thrust, and "Spend" is radioactive footwork that balances aggressive, unhinged noises with moments of light and clarity. The dense, chaotic "Fracture" sputters to its apocalyptic end, drowned out by wheezing horns. ~ Paul Simpson
