Despite its near-constant issues with abhorrent behaviour and pointless drama alike,  the trap metal community has spawned, in my opinion, some of the most unique and inventive artists I’ve seen in recent years. The cutthroat and aggressive genre, spearheaded by the likes of scarlxrd, Zillakami, Ghostemane and many more, has inspired many to pick up the mic and spit (or scream) tirades of anger and ferocity over distorted and in-your-face instrumentals.

With such a spike in popularity, of course, you have your uninspired but inoffensive copycats, you have the people trying to find their voice in a sea of imitators, and then you have the people who manage to break through the noise with a sound that stands out from the rest, all while maintaining a  certain appeal with the current audience. Jenx2, who also produces under the name Buckx2,  is one of the people in the latter category. Their music combines elements of trap metal with so many other genres that it’s really hard to put them in a box, making them, in my opinion, an amazing artist to listen to. 

This versatility shows up on records like Memento Mori. After its release, I immediately got in contact with Nuumastar,  the artist that made the cover art for said project and asked her if I  could do the Spotify Canvas visualizer for it. She gladly accepted and sent me all the assets.

“Memento mori” is Latin for “remember that you have to die”, a statement that serves as a gentle reminder of the inevitability of death. To enhance this theme through motion design while also highlighting the bright aesthetic of the project, I first animated Jen’s portrait to make it look like it was breathing, all while animating the heart monitor behind the portrait, making the tail of it fade to red, symbolizing life fading from our protagonist. However, I also made the background spin uncontrollably behind this figure, to represent the dizzying and surreal realization of one’s mortality. As an extra touch, I also added small visual glitches to the visualizer to represent the album’s chaotic and sometimes glitchy sound.

Overall,  making this visualizer and listening to the album while working on it was an interesting journey. Working with Nuuma and Jen was a great experience, especially considering this was the first time I went out of my way to make a visualizer for someone else’s music. I’m looking forward to seeing what Jen, along with the rest of the KarmaMob collective, will do in the future.

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