TECHNO *** Init1 – Codes (Audio Magnitude AM10)
Audio Magnitude from Spain presents its tenth release by onboarding the techno artist Init1. The Frenchman has amassed a set of tools for heavy material across four tracks. Led by thundering and varied percussion, the mid-tempo session lands close to Subhead’s monsters (“200″ and 400”). With strong industrial touch, the EP looks for more abstract beats in “404”.
RAVE / EBM /ACID *** XTR Human – Sledgehammer (Wie Ein Gott GOTT16)
“Eins, zwei, Polizei” meets “Hyper Hyper” is the initial impression of “Sledgehammer”, a pounding hands-in-the-air track by XTR Human from Berlin. Tongue-in-the-cheek or not, the remixes are of different type. After an industrial take by Dancing Plague, Personal Offence comes with an acidic power surge. Kris Baha version begins with breakbeat motives, before admiring the summer solstice in a 303 trance camp.
JUNGLE / BASS **** Unsyncopation – Retrograde (Unsyncopation 001)
Fresh-sounding debut from UK, representing the new wave of broken beats processing. Relaxed rhythms are mixed with female vocals both in the opener “Seduction” and “Thrown To The Dogs”, the latter getting extra emphasis from harsh stereo effects. “Retrograde” continues with non-invasive textures, all that being moderately old school with modern twist.