The EP brings together clever club sounds, thought-provoking Techno, textured harmonies and even a bit of existentialism for good measure.
It can sometimes take a label a bit of time to appear on radar screens, others appear quicker. In The Dark Again blipped onto mine with their second release. The German imprint, born from parent platform Snuff Trax, is setting out with another 12” compilation. Three tracks by two artists of formidable reputation.
For the life of me I can never remember In Aeternam Vale’s name. It’s not for lack of trying. I’ve been listening to the three man team of Laurent Prot, Pascal Aubert, Chrystelle Marin since they were releasing on Invasion Planete in the early 2000s. But for some reason the band name refuses to remain in my head, I generally revert to calling them I.A.V. The three man group have been active for more than thirty years and roamed the genres of electronics. They were re-introduced to many with their self-titled compilation on Minimal Wave but have since adopted a Techno aspect, one imbibed with echoes of an Industrial and Wave past. It’s these Frenchmen who make up the bulk of this EP, over twenty minutes of music and “Valium Water” occupies some sixteen minutes of that. Rumbling bars give way to a sleek 4/4 pattern, a slicing snare rising up. The piece slowly builds, Acid rolls unfurling as a bright and brutish current drenches. There’s a terrific energy to it. It slowly burns, smoldering into an incandescent peak as reverberations pull the listener deeper and further into this hypnotic piece. Their next installment “I Can’t Stand Anymore,” comes from their Minimal Synth side. Vocals drawl, dragging instruments into a gutter of melancholy. Dirty analogue bars are muddied by heavily distorted strings for an angst ridden finale. Ekoplekz aka Nick Edwards occupies the middle ground of the EP, physically and sonically. The UK artist was busy in 2014 with two albums for Planet Mu. With “Jazz the 403” Edwards offers up a work that melts thick percussion with abstract experimentation. Bleeps ping into the distance, 303 squirms dissolve and metallic clangs ricochet. The factory floor and assembly line are ever present. Galvanised notes and sooted synth are balanced by modular washes and machine whispers.
In The Dark Again’s latest statement is a very firm one. Two names, at the top of their game, have more than delivered. The EP brings together clever club sounds, thought-provoking Techno, textured harmonies and even a bit of existentialism for good measure.
In The Dark Again 02 is available on In The Dark Again.
