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17 October 2017
Hkkptr - Sünde

 

    After three impressive digital releases from Hkkptr, Nternal Bserver, and Mas, it's the former who makes a welcome return to the Beirut-based, Lebanese imprint Modular Mind, presenting us with Sunde—a four-track EP—pleasingly on vinyl rather than a cassette, which makes it their first foray into a physical medium.

    Leaving a barely detectable undercurrent of prickly, static micro distortion in its wake, a hard, flattened kick punches through the barren wastelands of opener VLPHV in a fierce melee attack, joined by the icy ringing of cold, clinking chains that bring to mind abandoned factories and empty warehouses; these images are adorned beautifully with a weeping and mournful ambiance that feels much like apparitions of a once thriving and productive workforce—this kind of industrial and urban decay has become eerily familiar these days. Earth-shattering drum programming on title track Sunde manifests as a virtual stampede; both explosive and relentless it brings with it a ceremonial charge with a distinctly tribal aesthetic, the dynamic interplay between thunderous bass kicks and a lonely wooden snare is darkly sumptuous. Modvs handles all remix duties and delivers satisfying counterpoints on both occasions, starting off by traveling back in time on his version of VLPHV: these lands aren't wasted any more, the percussion has an incessant, locomotive churn, gone are the cold, clinking chains, replaced in turn by something much warmer, projecting an image of blacksmiths forging metal; heating up the atmosphere he intersperses the warmer harmonics with vocal fragments, returning the scene back to its former glory. His treatment of Sunde is equally sensitive, but conversely, dialed down this time: shifted to a calmer outlook, though not lacking energy, the percussion doesn't have the riotous intent—indeed, it feels rather like the reflective aftermath of the chaotic original.

    Modular Mind is a label intent on pushing music that challenges on all fronts. Whether they are being highly experimental or crushing you with abusive and industrial tools, they're always deeply atmospheric and extremely proficient at flooding their productions with genuine emotion.


Words by b.yond.

 

Release Type: EP

Release Date: 17 October 2017

Release Format: Vinyl

Record LabelCatalog: Modular Mind • MM01

Purchase Links: BandcampJunoRedeyeDeejayDecksTechno ImportTechnique

 

Category: Reviews
| Added by: rhetor
| Tags: 2017, EP, Techno, Modvs, Modular Mind, Hkkptr
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