Beyond the Clones then does a fantastic job of morphing proto-EBM rhythms, contemporary glitch textures, and those delightful toybox electronics into this next release. And in so doing, moving between space-like abstraction and grounded abrasions with a physical intensity throughout.
A clear entry point into something new
Frankfurt’s Beyond the Clones arrive with a third release Kerberos Directory System that feels like a clear entry point into something new that they are that is quietly significant. The bio describes retro space toys colliding with intelligent breaks, glitch aesthetics, and 8-bit minimalism—and in many ways, that reads as a near-axiomatic sketch of their tightly controlled sound. But stopping there would undersell it. Music resists clean description. We can’t really define it; we can only approximate its effect. It isn’t language-bound—it’s something you step into. So, with that in mind, go jump in.
Still, in an effort to be helpful, this two-tracker opens somewhere in outer space before gradually cluttering its way back toward home. Wherever home is meant to be, I’m not convinced it’s Earth —though, admittedly, I’ve yet to visit Frankfurt.
“No Sub Agent” moves with a direct, forward-facing clarity, stitching together analog fragments and worn synthetic textures over a stepping rhythm that recalls Front 242 or a slowed-down Nitzer Ebb pulse. Beneath it sits a bass presence that lands with a guttural, almost physical weight—primordial, unsettled, and unbothered by the atmospherics layered above it. Track two, “TAN 2.0,” leans into toybox melodies à la Neuro… No Neuro—a subtle nod—while folding white and grey noise into dense, corroded textures. Fractured percussion splinters through the mix, as unstable circuitry and flickering harmonic debris blur together into a strangely euphoric mechanical haze, constantly threatening collapse but never quite arriving there, instead holding itself in a tense, luminous drift.
Beyond the Clones then does a fantastic job of morphing proto-EBM rhythms, contemporary glitch textures, and those delightful toybox electronics into this next release. And in so doing, moving between space-like abstraction and grounded abrasions with a physical intensity throughout. What’s not to love?
Kerberos Directory System is available on Bandcamp.
