There's something undeniably exciting about discovering an artist through a debut release that immediately causes a "whoa, what is this?" question to spring into mind in a positive way; stumbling upon such record becomes a memorable thing and if one is predisposed to gathering discographies, he is likely to follow that artist's output from there on in - speaking from experience. So Gag - the first EP by the upcoming Ukrainian talent Clasps, matches exactly that description, striking the mind with nothing short of impressive. Having previously released two tracks through a two-two split with DNoize, Clasps now returns to Luke Creed's playground for new-ground-breaking techno Variant Electronic with 3 brand new and red hot works supported by Creed's sufficiently destructive remix.

    Sharp wooden kicks striking a syncopated game and abrasive, driving bassline loop running against a slowly rising soft noise is how the curtain opens on All You Need Is Glove; the 132 BPM opener then engages sandy, half-bar shifted 4/4 bands, short washes of noise and gating, speeding, revolving patterns of bleeps that neatly add to the burning flame of surging energy, putting a definitive end to any bodily resistance of getting up and getting to it. Like A Reverse Prayer forcibly tears the torch away from the hands of the previous number and proceeds to carry it on at the same pace - resonant, adequately aggressive and the same-amount-of-distorted bassline infused with sweet electricity will take charge through the course along with the hefty whangs of low-seated, bass-greedy, bouncy kicks that can and will cause irreparable damage to subwoofers of those that are careless enough to play the track with volume knob turned to the max. While The Whipping Song drops off 2 BPM points, it sure as hell does not drop in intensity; as the buff kicks keep unevenly hitting the proverbial low-range anvil, high-reaching acidic stabs run at increased gain levels, doing their best to try and break the acceptable limits of loudness, with more reverberated foreground percussion, distorted onsets of a rogue background bassline and freely traveling through the channels, panning semi-metallic microsamples making their task to force dizziness on the mind in addition to the already overpowering sound pressure coming from the other elements. Last but hardly the least, Luke Creed's contribution in form of The Whipping Song Remix sees the pitched-down, slightly more grounded stabs with substantial dose of distortion being forced on the kicks, which in turn allowed to create more of a low-range accentuated, dirty, slashing sound; a revolving loop of squealing synths will follow the remix right until the end, where it will meet with a wall of glitchy goodness that condenses the spectrum and bids adieu to the listeners - so long, and thanks for all the whipping!

Release Type: EP

Release Date: 20 February 2017

Release Format: Digital

Record Label • Catalog: Variant Electronic • VE009

Purchase Links: Beatport • Junodownload • Bandcamp