I Hate Models Drags ILLENIUM and Bring Me The Horizon's 'Slave To The Rithm' Into His Dark Techno Universe

When Paris-based techno architect I Hate Models gets his hands on a track, you can expect the original to be unrecognizable by the time he's done — and his newly dropped remix of ILLENIUM and Bring Me The Horizon's Slave To The Rithm is exactly that: a ruthless, pitch-black deconstruction that strips the original of its arena-ready shine and replaces it with something that belongs deep inside a Berlin basement at 5am.

A Collision of Worlds

On paper, the pairing sounds impossible. ILLENIUM, the Colorado-born melodic bass maestro whose shows regularly sell out 20,000-capacity arenas, and Bring Me The Horizon, Sheffield's stadium-conquering alt-metal powerhouse, make music designed to be felt in the chest at maximum volume in massive open spaces. I Hate Models, real name Arthur Simonini, makes music for people who think Berghain's queue is a spiritual pilgrimage. The gap between these two sonic universes couldn't be wider — which is precisely what makes this remix so fascinating.

Simonini doesn't try to meet the original halfway. Instead, he dismantles Slave To The Rithm down to its skeletal components — isolating a vocal fragment here, a melodic motif there — and rebuilds it entirely on his own terms. What emerges is a grinding, relentless techno cut that carries just enough DNA from the source material to remind you where it came from, while feeling like a completely different creative statement.

Why This Remix Matters in 2026

The electronic music landscape in 2026 has become obsessed with cross-genre pollination, but most attempts feel cynical — a techno producer slapping a four-on-the-floor kick under a pop vocal to chase algorithmic reach. I Hate Models has zero interest in that game. His remix functions as genuine artistic commentary: he's essentially arguing that beneath the soaring melodic bass and the alt-rock hooks of the original, there was always a darker energy waiting to be excavated.

For fans who have followed Simonini's arc — from his early raw industrial sets at Concrete in Paris to his increasingly sophisticated studio output on labels like Afterlife and his own imprint — this remix represents a natural extension of his aesthetic. He's consistently drawn to tension, to music that feels like it exists on the edge of collapse, and Slave To The Rithm in his hands becomes exactly that.

The Festival Implications

Don't sleep on what this means for festival season. I Hate Models is the kind of artist who builds sets like architecture — every track placed with intent, transitions that feel inevitable rather than merely functional. A remix like this, carrying recognizable vocal hooks from a track that's been played on stadium screens worldwide, is a weapon in a dark room set. Watch for him to deploy this at Awakenings, ADE showcases, or any of his confirmed Sonar appearances — the moment that vocal drops over a Simonini kick pattern in a 3,000-capacity tent is going to cause absolute carnage.

It's also worth noting what this says about ILLENIUM's own creative appetite. Inviting one of underground techno's most uncompromising figures to remix your work isn't a mainstream crossover play — it's a genuine signal of artistic curiosity. The fact that ILLENIUM signed off on something this far from his comfort zone earns him real credibility in circles that don't normally pay attention to melodic bass.

Verdict

I Hate Models' remix of Slave To The Rithm is one of the more genuinely surprising releases of May 2026. It won't convert anyone to techno who wasn't already open to the door, but for the heads who live in that world, it's essential listening — and proof that the best remixes don't translate, they transform.