KASPAR レコード& CD

Review: With a name like the 'Bangers' series, one can only guess what you're in for. This is the eighth installment in the series from Terminal M, the German label run by techno fiend Monika Kruse. This four-track EP compilation - and there are many more where it came from - reinforces the most hardened cores of the German underground, whether they manifest as mystic darkside trance (Zajon's 'Fierce Pain') or verging-on-hardstyle apocalypses (Kaspar's 'Since 94').

Review: Monika Kruse's Terminal M is the sort of label that serves up functional techno that keeps DJs with plenty of weekend weapons without ever really getting any headiness. It is Kaspar who does the basics well here with two tracks that do very different things. First up is 'Imagination' which layers up hands in the air synths over patient, slow burning beats that will cast a real spell on a crowd before things get too steamy. And then on the flip is the banger - 'Cycle Of Life' has darker energy, slamming drums, raw and pixelated leads that never stop twisting and turning.