Spacious Dub with a Sprinkle of DnB: MantisMash – Memory Trails (2025)

Yet again, MantisMash excels at creating dreamy soundscapes that evoke emotion while maintaining a relatively minimalist approach. Each track on Memory Trails tells part of a larger story, pulling the listener into distinct sonic spaces that are woven together into a marvelous journey through shifting emotions, textures, and states of mind.

A Psychedelic Journey emerging from Clever Choices and Precise Arrangement

MantisMashseamlessly connects psydub, psybass, and psyDnB throughout the album Memory Trails , maintaining a soft yet powerful approach that defines its sonic identity. The record demonstrates how restraint and intentional placement can result in deeply lush and immersive tracks, with energy shifting smoothly through smart arrangement rather than excess layers. Dreamy arpeggios, evocative melodies, smooth basslines, and hooking dub stabs form the core palette, creating a soundscape that feels full without ever becoming busy. The production is clean, warm, and meticulously balanced, with a particularly strong low end that supports the emotional flow rather than overpowering it. MantisMash’s attention to detail is evident in both the technical execution and the soulful delivery, with sound design techniques such as granular synthesis, glitch elements, and carefully layered sub-bass enriched by subtle yet powerful overtones.

Let’s Go Deeper Into Memory Trails

My favorite tracks are “Reflekt” and “Hyper Hippo”. However, I must say I liked all the tracks in the album. I personally connected more to these two because I tend to gravitate toward more energetic music, and therefore I found myself listening to them the most.

“Reflekt” blends drum and bass elements (the iconic 174 BPM rhythm) with deep, contrabass-like sub-bass and almost infinite echoes. It starts with a strummed melody, then enters the classic DnB drums, followed by the contra bass sub-Bass. Drum fills every four to eight bars add to the track’s percussive groove. After a carefully crafted breakdown, echoed arpeggios melt into the contra-bass, which becomes more dominant in part B of the track. An additional layer of mid-bass harmonics sits beautifully on top.

“Hyper Hippo” carries the MantisMash signature sound, with a playful, groovy bassline, dubby stabs, and dreamy melodies. The arpeggiated melody at the end of the breakdown morphs into the next section, unfolding into a deep dub sub-bass solo. As MantisMash himself described it:

This one is a psy-dubby track, playful and chubby like a Hippo running around, bouncing, missing a step, almost falling over but quickly back on track again.

This story depicts this track perfectly so I’d say no more.

TL; DR

Memory Trails is a carefully crafted psychedelic journey. MantisMash blends psydub, psybass, and psyDnB through clever arrangements, warm and balanced production, and a full, expressive low end. The album feels spacious while maintaining a minimalist approach, creating immersive soundscapes that are lush, emotional, and cohesive. Tracks like “Reflekt” and “Hyper Hippo” stand out through energetic grooves, deep sub-bass, playful melodies, and detailed sound design, all coming together with an effortless balance of technical precision and soulful intent.