A demented, debased and devastating début from the Swiss duo.
It’s taken a while for the Lux Rec co-founder Daniele Cosmo to start releasing, but the day has come. Perhaps it was a bit of arm-twisting from Lux Rec veteran Florin Buchel aka CCO (Contra Communem Opinionem) that has led to the pair hooking up to form a new name in electronics. Savage Ground sees the twosome coming together to offer Over Fences, five tracks built live with three machines with a “minimum of post processing.”
The slow burning, simmering sounds of “Onset” open the account of this fledgling outfit. It soon becomes clear that this is going to be an EP of bruised, battered and bludgeoned. Grit is poured onto production as a primal power pours from overheating speakers. Percussion splinters for the sinful “Attempt One.” The duo’s decision to use a modular synth adds an extra layer to the tracks, a depth and texture that sees bars bend and buckle under Savage Ground’s immoral instruction. Acid chords are conjured up, burbling and burning through rhythmic rumbles. House and Techno are melted down in a furnace of malcontent. Blisters boil on metallic skins, “Attempt Three” reshaping itself under constant, and cruel, pressures. The live aspect of the EP allows melodies to meander, notes turn off-course to pillage with free-flowing debauchery. Nowhere is this more audible than in “Attempt Four.” Crude and callous chords cut across brutal bass. Mouthfuls of acrid acid are spat out, dirt clad toms rain down. Patterns wretch, twitch and convulse for this toxic climax.
Savage Grounds have taken no prisoners with this introduction. There is definitely a touch of Jamal Moss to this outfit’s savagery, but the Lux men’s barbarity is amplified by their choice to record live and limit the machine arsenal. A demented, debased and devastating début from the Swiss duo.
Over Fences is available on Lux Rec.
