A significant evolution from his earlier drone and noise work, Colubrid contains some of Machine Listener's most playful, beat-heavy material. Early highlight "Lychguard" is a multi-leveled maze of twisted beats and ricocheting tones, frequently disappearing and drawing attention to the mesmerizing drone lurking in the background. "Uroplatus" is less immediate but just as detailed and considered, with lo-fi beats slowly stirring and mutating, and dubby bass swirling around the metallic debris floating near the bottom. "Dirigible" starts out as a sparse, spacious drone interrupted by traces of crackling and tinny clanging, but gradually a hollowed-out dub rhythm forms, signaling action without a feeling of forward momentum. "79!" is another curious web of barely perceptible voices and slithering noises, all riding a slow train of a beat. Without quite going for sensual overload like some of his Hausu Mountain labelmates, Machine Listener evokes a similar sense of throwing the rule book in a wood chipper and going by gut feelings and chance operations in order to build a new musical language.