C Mantle’s unique ability to truncate strangely captivating angular exp-electro soundscapes—and swiftly obliterate them often at the same time—assures us that every scratch, screech, crunch, crack and metallic shard finds its place somewhere among the rolling chaos.
Decomposed rhythmic electronics, shattered glitch-hop electro and trudging breakcore
Edinburgh-based C Mantle (aka Christopher Mantle)—known for his erratic beat infestations, modular scrubbing, and deformed melodic bits and pieces—reveals Anatomically Correct (his first full length album, believe it or not) on his own Acre imprint set for a heavyweight vinyl gatefold release on April 4, 2021. Having released abstract slow-burning electronic detonations since 2007 on labels like Earwiggle, Handsette, Spacebar Sentiments, Underground Perversions, Mindcut, Electrix, Cathartic Noize Experience, Spin Dynamics, and Noise In Opposition, his audio works have also been played by artists like Aphex Twin, Carl Finlow, Konx Om Pax, AnD and Sunil Sharpe to name a few.
Credentials aside, Anatomically Correct is perhaps C Mantle’s finest accomplishment—its decomposed rhythmic electronics, shattered glitch-hop electro and trudging breakcore manifest is on par with the best of the underground modular IDM scene. “Icy crystals and mischievous machines flex,” as the press-release states, however, there are dark, dystopian dynamics prevalent on this 9-track album from start to end. Its brooding and exposed low-end fractures don’t hesitate to take over the landscape, shimmying their way through misshaped fissures.
C Mantle’s unique ability to truncate strangely captivating angular exp-electro soundscapes—and swiftly obliterate them often at the same time—assures us that every scratch, screech, crunch, crack and metallic shard finds its place somewhere among the rolling chaos. Where artists like Autechre and Richard Devine have found their niche in leftfield experimental quarters, C Mantle offers just enough momentum, mechanical energy, and modular acrobatics and crafts a definitive 2021 highlight made of familiar glitched-out industrial wastelands and alien downtempo substructures.
Anatomically Correct is available on Acre April 4, 2021. [Bandcamp]
Artwork commissioned from Lukas Weidinger
Mastering by Denis Blackham
