Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars
Occupying similar sonic territory to the recently reviewed Heavyocity Oblivion, Devastator Breakout is the latest and largest library in Keepforest’s cinematic Evolution series. Its 11GB Core and 14.7GB Pro versions share the same set of over 2300 samples and 900+ loops, while the higher‑priced Pro collection contains 1300+ additional sound‑design samples, 63 extra cinematic kit presets and a sophisticated X/Y morphing engine. Both versions run on Kontakt and the free Kontakt Player version 6.6.1 or newer, with samples also presented as raw WAVs.
Evolution: Devastator Breakout is a collaboration between Keepforest founder Arseni Khodzin and UK producer and sound designer Joe Ford. This international accord has generated a stupendous trove of material: massive hits, booms, impacts and slams, percussive bass downers, iconic ‘signature’ tuned effects, electronic beeps and signals, hair‑raising alarms, sci‑fi ‘resonances’ and drones, slowed‑down gurgles and whizzes suggestive of a mad professor’s laboratory, tension‑building risers, whooshy reversed effects and a miscellany of noises and glitches.
Adding incendiary power to the usual trailer‑friendly low taikos and ‘whooshbangs’ is a large collection of terrifying braams and benders which fuse distorted low brass, ferocious, splintering, bone‑crunching impacts, aggressively mangled basses and what sounds like the enraged bellowing of a gigantic Godzilla‑like screen monster. This is violent stuff: Messrs Khodzin and Ford come across as polite, mild‑mannered guys, but on hearing these samples you’d be forgiven for assuming they’re a pair of maniacs.
Playable instruments include hard‑hitting distorted bass synths, 40 classic analogue leads, plucks, swells and a set of ‘cinematic grains’ leads which include lighter synth textures. The 32 drum kits are presented as 12 playable pads, which you can customise with your favourite drum and percussion factory sounds. You can also import single samples using the ‘Drag & Drop’ patch. All of these sources can be automated by the built‑in step sequencer, a quick and easy way of generating rhythmic grooves.
For further rhythmic gratification there’s a selection of pre‑programmed, tempo‑sync’ed pulses and ‘tick‑tocks’. The pulses include low, throbbing heartbeats, single‑note synth patterns, percussive thump rhythms and some great hybrid pulses combining kick grooves with raucous synth outbursts and glitchy effects, while the urgent‑sounding tick‑tock patterns work well as top loops layered over the thunderous low‑pitched pulses.
A fabulous set of 83 Kontakt ‘loop stems’ multis weave these excellent samples together into motoring grooves incorporating drum parts and synth pulses, a great way of understanding how Devastator Breakout’s various components fit together. The coup de grace is the ‘Breakout Pro’ instrument, featuring eight sound slots and an automated X/Y pad; a great source of cinematic intros and atmospheres.
The creative possibilities are endless. Given the quality, power and astonishing variety of this library, I wish I’d caught up with Keepforest sooner, and will certainly be keeping a close eye on them in future!
Pro $399, Core $299.
Pro $399, Core $299.