Four gritty, sweat streaked, angry Techno convulsions are the offering.
I’ve been covering the Theory And Practice Of Domination series since the first volume last year. Hard mechanics has been the focus. Boiled bolts and pistons hammering to a 4/4 beat. The Transhumans have been busy, beavering away in Berlin over their machines to deliver the third installment, Massive Seduction Weapons.
Four gritty, sweat streaked, angry Techno convulsions are the offering. Steel and concrete flood speakers with the thump of The Art Of Deceive. The listener is battered into submission, consumed by claustrophobia. Blighted beats rain down, rhythmic repetition driving away melody. The hand of Birmingham is plan to see across the record, tracks like “To Seize The Spirit” and “Uncontrollable Desire” coiling around themselves into ever tighter cycles. “Consummation” ends the assault, a final rally of looping percussion to close.
I’m not sure why The Transhumans have decided to abandon chords for drums. Looking back over their catalog the Madrid men were combining both in past releases, the subtle strings and snares of tracks like “Interdependence” or the haunting bars of “Space time Illusion.” This focus on beats, this DJ tool functionality has its place, but there is so much less to it. Here’s hoping that post Domination there will be a return to those earlier deeper sounds that drew so many to this talented outfit in the first place.
Theory and Practice of Domination Vol. III is available on Transhuman.
