Repro-5 Metropolis Review

Metropolis by Sonic Underworld is a sound bank containing 150 presets for the Repro-5 virtual synthesizer by U-He.

Stephan Baer a.k.a Sonic Underworld has quickly become one of my favorite sound designers since I became familiar with his work on Repro-5 Meridian, which I reviewed earlier this year. I’m mesmerized by his subtle sensibilities and expert use of effects, and his latest creation for Repro-5 is certainly no exception. Metropolis picks up where Meridian left off, plunging us back into the dark cinematic landscape we all know and love, but with a noticeably futuristic urban flare, hence the title…

Metropolis contains 150 patches split up into 8 categories…

• 20 Atmospheres
• 20 Basses
• 10 FX
• 10 Keyboard
• 10 Leads
• 20 LFO
• 30 Pads
• 30 Synth

The Atmospheres are reminiscent of the “Ambient” patches in Meridian; they have that same pillow soft dynamic and focus a little more on texture rather than long attack and release times, even though there are a number of enormous swells on offer. Most of these atmospheres are unabashedly warm, mellow, drenched in reverb and overflowing with analog character, as are a lot of the Pads, even though there are a few distinctly “fuzzy” vintage string machine-type pads in there also.

The Leads and Basses are noticeably more aggressive, especially the basses, some of which will cut through a mix like a hot knife through warm butter. But not all of the basses are “in your face”. In fact, several of them are rather minimal and dark, as are a few leads.

I love the Keyboard patches. In fact, they might be some of the most useful keyboard patches I’ve laid ears on. Very warm, very subtle, and surprisingly enough, very modern. These are especially delicate, velocity sensitive electric pianos and hybrid organ sounds, often with a touch of fizziness.

Speaking of fizziness, Synth patches are in no short supply, with a number of percy, bubbly vintage poly sounds including lots of highly-resonant filter sweeps and shimmering chorused plucks and bells. I’m also very happy with the FX and LFO patches, similar to those in the Meridian library, with all kinds of beautifully complex and wonderfully weird blips and bloops and other oddities that defy classification.

This is a perfect example of Baer’s work. His sounds are among the most useful I’ve come across in a good long while. His strong knowledge of analog hardware has obviously contributed to his skill set as a preset designer, and that really shows in his work for Repro. He demonstrates subtle use of instrument parameters and programs unusual modulations in a way that produces evocative, musical results.

If you’re a cinematic composer, and you’re in search of minimal underscore elements that don’t jump out of a mix and distract the audience, Sonic Underworld has amassed a veritable arsenal of versatile, expressive patches that are made to gel with orchestral instruments. I highly recommend this library.

More info: Sonic Underworld Metropolis ($35)