Konextrax to Bring Rockstar Energy to EDM with New Album ‘Tripwired’
News travels fast in the underground, but rarely does it strike like lightning. When word slipped that Wisconsin’s own electronic sorcerer Konextrax is set to release a new album in 2026, titled Tripwired, the tremors of excitement were impossible to ignore. More than just a record, Tripwired feels like a gauntlet thrown down, the work of an artist not content to merely ride the wave of EDM’s trends, but to bend them into something entirely his own.
For anyone who has tracked Konextrax’s ascent, the upcoming release feels like the inevitable next step in a meteoric trajectory. What began as a childhood obsession with bass-heavy wizardry has matured into a craft so meticulous, so forward-thinking, that it’s already placing him in conversations with genre-shifting figures-think Skrillex before Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites set the world ablaze.
Before the alias Konextrax took form, there was K!LLERSOUNDS. That was 2017, a teenage producer falling headlong into dubstep’s firestorm. Inspired by heavyweights like Skrillex, Spag Heddy, and Zomboy, he lived inside the vortex of YouTube channels like Dubstep Gutter, mesmerized by snarling drops and earth-splitting basslines. But inspiration has a way of mutating-and by 2021, when Konextrax officially launched his professional career, the blueprint had already been redrawn.
He found his true north in Colorbass, a vibrant hybrid where the euphoric sweep of melodic dubstep and future bass collides head-on with the grit of brostep. Euphoric yet punishing, cinematic yet explosive – Colorbass became more than just a subgenre to him. It became a philosophy.
In an era where EDM often risks drowning in repetition, Konextrax has carved something sharper: a “signature style” that feels simultaneously futuristic and nostalgic. His creative palette includes tools few producers wield so fluently-pitch mapping, vocoding without routing, chroma, spectral fractals – all woven together through a retro-futuristic mastering lens. The result? A sound that screams recognizable, yet never redundant.
“My vocal processing is a little special too,” he explained in an exclusive interview with Broken 8 a few months ago, discussing the single ‘What I Want’. “It’s this high-pitched, low-formant vocoded effect, supercharged by robotic autotune that creates this aquatic resonance. It’s like human, but not really human. That’s kind of the whole vibe.”
Influences like Au5 and Ace Aura got baked into his DNA for the release of ‘What I Want’, but what sets him apart is control. Where many colorbass producers stack 50 layers for a single drop, Konextrax prefers precision. Ten to twelve layers, no more. Every sound earns its place. Nothing is wasted.
The origins of Tripwired are as striking as the album itself. “This whole Tripwired project started with me chasing shapes in sound,” says Konextrax. “I kinda see music in colors and textures when I’m locked in, and these five tracks are like the first wave of that. Tripwired was me just snapping a wire in my head and letting the sparks fly-rough edges, raw bass, sharp flashes.”
Each track, he explains, became a kind of synesthetic vision: Break Everything: “It felt like breaking glass-heavy, jagged shards, but still catching light in between.” Spin It Back: “That one had this looping golden bounce, like circles spinning in the dark, brighter but still moving heavy.” Don’t Text Me (I’m Dropping): “That was red strobes, sticky floors, all sweat and static – the kind of night where you ignore the outside world.” Synthetic: “Silver-blue, softer lines, like breathing air after fire. Glitching but calm.”
Even the title track Tripwired channels this spark-jump sensation, as if sound itself were being electrocuted into being. “This isn’t the full picture,” Konextrax clarifies. “It’s just me opening the door a little, letting people hear where my head’s at while I’m building the bigger album. These songs are part of that world, pieces of it, little previews of the chaos and the calm. I wanted this mini-album to feel like you’re stepping into my point of view, seeing what I see when the music builds itself in my head.”
Rumors confirm the track listing will follow this precise arc: Tripwired, Break Everything, Spin It Back, Don’t Text Me (I’m Dropping), and Synthetic. Everything surrounding Tripwired suggests Konextrax is in his rockstar era. The album’s striking cover art-commissioned from Instagram visionary @0palescent_art. Behind the decks, he’s been leaning into “rebellious, rockstar vibes,” bringing a gritty unpredictability to his persona that fans are already responding to. He oozes rebellious, emo-inspired energy.
He’s not just an artist; he’s becoming a symbol of defiance in a scene that can often feel formulaic. His label, Frozen Fox Records, now a sub-label of the powerhouse Electrostep Network, is both his testing ground and his amplifier, pushing boundary-breaking sounds into the wider EDM ecosystem.
And the buzz is only amplifying: a signed deal with Electrostep Network (boasting 300k+ SoundCloud followers and 600k+ YouTube subscribers), a December digital festival appearance, and the highly anticipated Tripwired looming like a storm on the horizon.
If Tripwired feels meticulous, it’s because Konextrax approaches songwriting like an architect. Chord progressions and key signatures lay the foundation; melodies sketch the shape; experimentation brings the chaos. He thrives on resampling-recycling fragments of old designs into entirely new beasts. “I don’t want a song to just be a track,” he explains. “I want it to be a journey. Addictive, but not annoying. Euphoric, but not empty. It should punch you in the face and then soothe you after. That balance is everything.”
It’s a process that rewards repeat listening. Each spin of Tripwired reveals another layer: a buried synth glissando, a spectral flourish, a rhythm tucked in the shadows. It’s chaotic, yes-but it’s chaos with purpose. Electronic music has always thrived on disruption. Every generation produces an artist who doesn’t just join the conversation but flips the table. Konextrax, with Tripwired, seems poised to be that artist for this decade.
What makes this album vital isn’t just its sound design wizardry or technical flair-it’s its refusal to play safe. It doesn’t follow the rules of colorbass, dubstep, or EDM at large. It takes their DNA, fractures it, and reconstructs it into something volatile, euphoric, and uniquely personal. The result? An album that sounds alive. One that demands you don’t just listen, but experience.
With Tripwired, Konextrax is standing on the brink of a new frontier. He’s no longer just an underground innovator; he’s an artist ready to break into the global conversation. The leaks have already proven one thing: this record will not quietly blend into playlists. It will demand attention, stir debate, and quite possibly shift the sound of EDM in the years ahead.
“Quality over quantity,” he emphasized in his interview. And if Tripwired is any indication, Konextrax is betting everything on quality. As 2026 approaches, one thing is certain: when Tripwired finally drops, the EDM landscape won’t be the same.
OFFICIAL LINKS: INSTAGRAM – SOUNDCLOUD – SPOTIFY
