(05.21.06) Anyone who enjoyed their Circuitbreaking (Hymen, 2004) album probably felt that, despite being an amazing record, it was too short, with only five proper tracks and five tiny interludes. While not being so linear and polished, Insurgent Flows is a perfect complementary release that develops further many ideas found in Circuitbreaking, adds some new flavors and a dose of raw power.
The start is pretty aggressive, with the massive build up of “Catalyst rmx” ending in an almost gabber stomping style, immediately chilled down by the hypnotic industrial dub of “La Nebuleuse,” one of the highlights of the entire record. “Pox Americana” goes back to heavy techno beats and acid bursts, again annihilated by “Black Box,” divided in two sections: first comes a brief underwater trip between a sonar and distant drones, and then time slows down for a shining moment of dub, very distant from the average obscureness of Orphx’ music, something that you can instead find again in the subtle dub of “Threshold,” where an ultra fast ticking rhythms pitter-patters on your eardrums among oceans of reverb. The title track is one of the least inspired moments, because it sounds very much like a rework of “Signal To Noise” of the previous album, this meaning it’s nonetheless a great track. After a calm central part, Insurgent Flows reserves the most brutal tunes for the end, starting with the hammering beats of “Uprising,” a track that I’d call Luddite, because the sounds of crashed glass and the screaming sirens remind me of a rebellion against factory machines. Then comes another ‘deja-vu,’ “Autogestion” seems an off-beat version of “Critical Mass,” but I have to admit that its progression towards a technoid tribal chant is indeed effective. At the very end you will find the adrenalinic rush called “Burning Flags,” featuring a storm of kick drums and crowd noises that would act as a perfect soundtrack to stir up a revolt.
Ranging from mesmerizing synthetic dub to anthemic techno explosions, Insurgent Flows is the necessary update for the fans of Circuitbreaking, but could be also a nice discovery halfway between Monolake and This Morn’ Omina.
Insurgent Flows is out now on Hands Productions.
- Hands Productions
- Orphx
