Review: This new solo outing from Aussie talent Ad Nauseaum has it all - acid, rave, techno, hardcore and more. 'Omega System' sets a pretty brutal tone to get things underway with filtered synths and blazing acid lines searing about the mix over raw, hard, flat drums. 'Alpha System' is even quicker and brings serrated synth madness to video game motifs and slamming kicks. Last of all is 'Always Acid,' a track that was made back in 2004 but doesn't sound in any way out of date. It's another one to blow the roof off any party.
Don't Scream At Me (Low Entropy Stripped remix) (5:53)
Review: RIOT Radio is a fiercely independent techno label based in Scotland that roll out another in its 'limited as fuck' series of releases. This one is also Matthias Koch's first-ever vinyl release and offers some eye-wateringly jacked-up and frosty beats that are all primed and ready to blow up any dance floor. Take 'Vice' - a heavy, marching cut with wiry electronics and fuzzy sonics. 'An Angel Told Me To Do It' is alive with ghoulish voices and screw synths and 'She Bites' then slams out more swampy techno madness. Low Entropy's 'Stripped' remix closes out in brutal and brilliant fashion.
Review: Techno troubadour Yan Cook has a fine discography on some of the most respected labels out there. Now he heads to Ukraine's Cooked, a young but perfectly formed imprint, and kicks off his EP with 'Blades,' which is all melon twisted synths and driving techno kicks. 'Whistleblower' then slips into a deeply atmospheric groove with gurgling bass and watery effects and 'Grom' is all about the swing in the drums. Gritty textures and insistent claps add to the thrill of it all and 'Skyhigh' is a more frosty dub techno cut that leaves out breathless.
Brayan Valenzuela - "My Sugar Daddy Is In London" (5:21)
Rezystor - "Into The Void" (6:22)
Rezystor - "Interdimensional Skirmisher" (6:51)
Review: BRVTAL is a Budapest-based music label, event and podcast series. Co-founded by Zsofia Cseve, AGA2L and Max Sinclair with resident DJ NVKP. Their label's fourth missive features Berlin by-way-of Bogota's Brayan Valenzuela unleashing two fierce cuts on side A: the menacing peak time fury of 'Water Is Wet Baby' followed by the equally as powerful dancefloor detonator 'My Sugar Daddy Is In London' full of classic rave tropes. On the flip, Cologne's Rezystor takes over with another couple of contributions and it's all about the strobe-lit trance-infused euphoria of 'Interdimensional Skirmisher'.
Lewis Fautzi & Norbak - "Code Of Deception" (5:17)
Oscar Mulero - "Zw System" (5:20)
Temudo - "Niiv" (6:29)
Kessell - "Time Domain" (5:11)
Review: Faut Section's Perception Series is back with a second sizzling installment of freshly made techno. Lewis Fautzi & Norbak pair off to open up with 'Code Of Deception', a barreling cut with icy hi hats and taught bass twangs full of dusty factory floor menace. Oscar Mulero offers one of his signature loop-techno rollers in 'Zw System' Temudo then rattles walls with the mysterious bass rumbles of 'Niiv'. Completing what is an EP that is as varied as it is vital is Kessell with the dubby broken techno beats of 'Time Domain' which has fizzing synths cracking like static on a 90s TV screen.
Sina XX & Dance Divine - "Dancefloor Is Hot" (6:10)
Sina XX & Metaraph - "Color Of People" (6:57)
Sina XX & Lacchesi - "Goth It" (5:43)
Enham, Lessss & Sina XX - "Le Demon" (5:10)
Review: Get your marching boots on and strap in for a white knuckle ride from fledgling label Body to Body. This second release from the French crew is another thrilling take on hard techno and gabba as Sina XX links up with different artists across four cuts. First, it is with Dance Divine for the flat-footed menace and lashing synths of 'Dancefloor Is Hot' then Metaraph joins for 'Color Of People,' a cut that burrows deep on an oversized bassline and edgy string stabs unsettle the mood. Sina XX & Lacchesi's 'Goth It' is a minimal excursion on tightly wrapped drums and bass that are full of pent-up tension then last of all is the most brain-frying and textural rave of the lot as Enahm and Lessss join in for 'Le Demon.'
"Bad Boy" Pete Vs Shnootz - "Acid Dub Tekno Lineage" (6:29)
Noise Frequency - "Lost Humanity" (5:49)
Review: AcidLab serves up more innovative findings from their hard techno research operations courtesy of an array of uncompromising talents on this new various artists release. Acid Steve kicks off with 'Working In An Acid Lab', a straight-ahead banger with bristling percussive loops and slamming drums. Chris Liberator & Sterling Moss & Athar then combine forces to fire futuristic acid techno out of a machine gun and across the dancefloor and BadBoyPete vs Shnootz's 'Tekno Sound' is amped up and urgent drum funk. Noise Frequency then shuts down with dark distortion in 'Lost Humanity.' This is only a second drop from this new young label but one that again establishes it as a vital imprint.
Review: Ascendant Berlin duo Blame The Mono return with their latest outing on French label Molekul titled 'Riot Toys'. There's no holds barred on this hard techno onslaught: the adrenalised energy of opening cut 'Gazellehorden' (feat HerrClem) fires up the engine in style, followed by the hyperaware energy of 'Switch The Pilot' and its jacked-up big-beat influence which also lunges straight for the jugular. Over on the flip, 'Funk Herald' will keep you tripping out under the strobelight, plus one more peak time banger to hammer the message home in the form of 'Bad Disco' which will keep the heads down on the dancefloor.
Review: If you're looking for fresh sonic experiments which nonetheless hold fast to the dancefloor-worthiness of contemporary European techno, look no further than Rotterdam's Arts collective. Flaunting their selective prowess, the label here present a four-track release from producer Off/Grid, who impressively nails that coveted sonic tension many producers can only grasp after; a sound suspended between dreaminess and forcefulness, a mesmeric militant fist that first packs a punch, but then unclenches to sprinkle magical sand in our eyes. 'Strobe Light Memories' pins this down best; a behemoth of a beat jostles for the attention of our ears, all front-and-centre, only to give way to a cosmically faint breakdown, before returning once again.
Review: It is 30 years since Curley and R-Zac joined forces to cook up their Sahara Tekniq EP way back in 1994. Surely, the legendary Dutch free party scene hero is sadly no longer with us, but with R-Zac he very much laid down a definitive blueprint for this type of textural, dense techno. It is the first of a big series of newly remastered reissues from the Network23 label and it offers up four visceral, high-impact, live-sounding techno workouts that are packed with anxious synths and whirring machine sounds, unrelenting drums and more which is sure to bring real chaos to the clubs.
Review: SNTS and Sacred Court are staunch fixtures of the German hard techno circuit, and this reputation is more than topped up on this latest addition to the repertoire, 'Everything In Distance'. Taking on a vampiric theme, titles like 'I Absorb You', 'Biting My Skin' and 'Double Heart' land like clawed blows to the neck, confounding with their unrelenting kick thrums and surrounding industrial atmospheres, gothic and miasmic as they come. More texture than usual is heard on this record than most pummelling-techno artisans abide, with the four-by-four kick drive almost sounding to have completely gotten lost in the fog by the time we reach track three. Listen if you dare.
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