The entire EP scans like the soundtrack to a full-on military operation and the introduction to “Desert” whilst perhaps a little lengthy, sets the scene brilliantly. Juddering bass pulses, scorched pads, the electronic tones of scanning equipment and the occasional intrusion of a tortured, twisted screech runs for a good eight minutes before anything approaching a rhythm or beat work is made manifest.
[Release page] The Strasburg-based French duo Ex_Tension, composed of Vincent Gendrot and Pierre-Yves Hohmann have been releasing material since 1997. The Desert EP is their first release for the Tympanik Audio imprint and like label-mates Geomatic (who also appear here on remix duty) they both released their debut albums proper on the French M-Tronic, sharing a futuristic take on industrial trance.
With a running time of just over seventy minutes in duration this is an expanded re-issue of what was originally a two-track self-released EP. That seventy minute duration is in part explained by the fact that the title track is a gargantuan thirty-two minute epic. Not many artists would be able to sustain an intense track like “Desert” for that length of time without it becoming either exhausting or repetitive, yet Ex_Tension manage it with little effort. It’s arguable that the track is actually several tracks merged into one, the gaps stitched together to create an extended journey, but given the success of the track that feels like an unnecessary nit-pick.
The entire EP scans like the soundtrack to a full-on military operation and the introduction to “Desert” whilst perhaps a little lengthy, sets the scene brilliantly. Juddering bass pulses, scorched pads, the electronic tones of scanning equipment and the occasional intrusion of a tortured, twisted screech runs for a good eight minutes before anything approaching a rhythm or beat work is made manifest. The kick of kettle drums is all the more compelling for it, and finally, ten and a half minutes in the rhythm section comes to life as the mission gets underway. Dusty, typewriter hi-hats pelt acid squelch, eerily spatial pads and relentless, insistent and sibilant synth keys. Part two of the track effectively arrives nineteen minutes in: tabla percussion, harsher, laser FX, blistering drones and creeped-out vocal aahs raising the threat level and imparting a distinctly eastern flavour. In the closing moments the atmospherics are pushed into the foreground, the swish and buzz of helicopter blades as we are airlifted to safety.
A narrative structure continues throughout Desert‘s remaining tracks too. In fact, it would easily have been possible to merge the remaining three tracks into another epic whole, as they each pick up where the other left off. Again the chopping of helicopter blades and a tinny, tannoy announcement herald the opening of second track “Journey,” a noise-led, brutal tension-block of a track. The clang of metal-on-metal and the pealing of alarm bells forms the echoing backdrop to the vast hangar bay that is “Aura,” a full-on trance work, and “Tension” is fueled by threatening, edge of your seat distorted beats and whispering voices.
To close out the EP we get “Desert (according to…)” featuring remixes by no less than five other artists, all merged into a single twenty-three minute remix package a la Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence: The Quad Final Mix” that is amazingly every bit as consistent and seamless as the title track. “(According to Access to Arasaka)” goes more arid, replete with his trademark blitz of silicon shredded digital fuzz and shards of stabbing synths. “(According to Totakeke)” first adds quivering, organic matter to the bleached bones of the original, then a steam-pump rhythm and swinging FX. “(According to Zentriert Ins Antlitz)” comes over distinctly Geomatic with a version that is both the most faithful to the original and the longest (though it seems to pass in a flash), adding dance-floor syncopation and Depeche Mode chimes to the mix as they shred the remains. “(According to Geomatic)” ups the pace as it launches the track into deep space with typical sci-fi style and in the closing minutes, “(According to Sonic Area)” breaks it into fragments and scatters them amongst choppy industrial guitars, break beats and found sounds.
Desert is an exceptionally well put together release, fleshing the original EP out into a full-length experience of epic proportions. Housed in a gorgeous un-coated digipak this is an exceptional addition to Tympanik Audio’s catalog.
Desert is out now on Tympanik Audio. [Release page]
