This latest 12” melts industrial aggression with a darkened computer edge as each musician mounts their audio attacks from a different, yet undeniably sharp, angle. Piercing drum patterns lance their way through hazes of acidic distortion and ashen filters as motherboards and speaker cones rage with electrical current. Fiery electro, tracks not for the faint of heart.
Industrial aggression with a darkened computer edge
For its fourth release, the first of 2020, Util Records is combining two founders of the imprint on a single 12”. Vema-Diodes and The Bandit have been a constant on the Barcelona label, with each releasing their own EPs as well as sharing the platter for ut002. This time the pair find themselves once more in unison, each on the opposite side of the same record.
Up first is Vema-Diodes with “Dialecto Perfiferico.” The track takes no prisoners. Heavy industrial slabs doused in electro is the sound. Basslines crack under their own weight as beats sizzle and shatter. Keys races against this backdrop while guttural vocals croak through cuts and flashes. The respite of “Distance” follows, a welcome tonic after the onslaught of “Dialecto Perfiferico.” Beats are understated and dusted with a digital crunch. Liberal breaks give space for melodies to roam, notes offering a calming effect against juddering lines of glitch. Lyrics return for the finale of “Annoying Silence.” From a groove-laden opening, the track soon finds itself chopped and rearranged with the flow being interrupted by vocoder words. The path is rediscovered after the main break with acid stained knob jerks bringing a ruffle rawness to the piece.
The Bandit takes over for the flip side and continues down the line laid by Vema-Diodes. The breaks and cuts of the A-Side are still present, as is the blistering pace set. However, here the gleam of the computer screen, with its sea of possibilities, has been reduced. Instead, The Bandit allows for a greater level of development in his compositions and with each element coming to the fore on their own volition. This can come in many forms, such as in the playful ferocity of “Da Root” or the stripped down sample soaked stickiness of “Madnex.” This same attention is plain to hear in “Demonstration Needed.” Percussion loops in circles of delay before a thick lurid tune stalks from the shadows, a smoky sonic mist only amplifying its intensity.
This latest 12” melts industrial aggression with a darkened computer edge as each musician mounts their audio attacks from a different, yet undeniably sharp, angle. Piercing drum patterns lance their way through hazes of acidic distortion and ashen filters as motherboards and speaker cones rage with electrical current. Fiery electro, tracks not for the faint of heart.
Split is available on Util. [Bandcamp]
