We love it when labels are consistent vis-à-vis quality and quantity, but as of late, the Variance's onslaught of releases has been almost intimidating. Not month after Æmris's esoteric, out-of-the-box album and a 20-titles, juicy VA encompassing Variance all stars that is free for download (thanks, Luke Creed!), and we're already presented with yet another crafty work of audio fiction in form of an 8-track LP Second Sight - conceived and brought to life by the Wellington-based Duo Alias, otherwise known as Techead and Feedback. Should you be unfamiliar - the New Zeland pair have been churning out that rogue, untamed blend of techno sine 2014, and as the 4 releases on their Bandcamp can attest (all going for 'name your price' by the way, so dig in), they do not know how to produce bad music. Unless of course you're thinking of 'bad' in terms of that 'badman' sense, and as we all know from our past days of infatuation with UK dubstep and Kryptic Minds in particular... Badman likes good things. So why exactly are these two called Duo Alias, how Variance can maintain such a high bar and why is dubstep brought up in a techno review? Don't know. No idea. What we do know however, is what you should expect from this album, so let us say a few words about that.

    After the distorted drones and abrasive sweeps of noisy loops on the expository Intro, the listeners will be served some measured, shifty kicks, acidic basslines and hissing, electricity-infused noise bands on 130 BPM-paced pieces Rat Ally, Tweak The Frequency and V-400X, where constructional irregularities and unpredictability of next steps by times will yield to danceability, but hardly to creativity. True, a 123 BPM number Pressure Of The Drop with its galloping drum kicks, rudely roaring bass and prolonged, refrigerating stabs might not have the rapidity to make you twitch as crazy before going out of breath will force you to slam the breaks, but do you really want to give your heart tachycardia? That figures, give it a Pressure Of The Drop instead. Remaining offerings Sewer Junk, Lad Of Lesiure and New Waves - running at 130, 129 and 123 BPM respectively, all have their kicks set to 4/4, and out of available material, these tracks will prove to be the most effective selections to stir the club crowd to; on these three, proficiency of the duo allowed them to both keep the listeners' attention and make them want to head-bang to the groove, employing the right elements and hitting the right notes when they need to be brought up - that, and abundant doses of hazardous, ear-splitting distortion, make Second Sight an album you do not want to miss.

Release Type: Album

Release Date: 2 April 2017

Release Format: Digital

Record Label • Catalog: Variance • VAR017

Purchase Links: Beatport • Junodownload • Bandcamp