At last, the IV installment in Skarn Division's catalog hits the shelves—both digital and physical. But if the previous records saw the imprint's originator Federico Amoroso featured as publishing either slow-paced or completely beatless industrial production, on Rhythmical Noise he shows what manner of dancefloor-oriented electronics have been building up in him recently, anticipating for their release. Accompany him are the two luminaries of the scene—Codex Empire and Zosima, both appearing on this EP in remixers' capacity.

    Paced at 137 BPM and bypassing build-ups completely, Hyper starts off as a savage beast that finally broke off its chain and dashed forth at a troubling pace; its instantaneous, militarist drum pattern that mirrors rapid, syncopated salvos, is set against ominous ambiance which gradually gives way to majestic, EMB-leaning drones that establish a dramatic scene of incessant warzone action.

    Hard to believe, but with the following number things escalate even further: a minute of noisy, but relatively innocuous ruckus tricks the listener into believing that Highly Distorted will remain beatless—and just as that happens, a hailstorm of annihilating kicks running at 145 BPM blitzkriegs its way out of the speaker as abruptly as a shot to the head executed in point blank, setting up an aural assault of the highest caliber.

    Set at 130 BPM and presented as the least distorted and most club-friendly work of the EP, Handle features expansive nocturnal ambiance ridden by unrelenting sub pressure that convoys the spacious kicks along the low range, being overshadowed by rapid, sandy hats and sweeps made of soft noise; if the previous pieces enacted a full-on assault, Handle plays out as a night spent in preparation to its imminent arrival.

    Amoroso's final contribution doesn't feature kicks as-is, and yet it ends up being much more oppressive than one could bargain for; the main arrangement of this monstrous composition pulsates at some 600 BPM, sending out incessant waves of tremor in all directions—but it isn't alone in its endeavors to unsettle the listener, as at the backdrop of Speednoise stands an impenetrable wall of noise, shrill synths and drowned-out wailing.

    In his revision, Codex Empire essentially weaponizes Speednoise for the purposes of warehouse sessions by throwing in the kicks and letting them run rampantly at 134 BPM under a looming arc of cathedral ambiance, plethora of varied percussive elements and arrays of bleeping signals, stylized as if to resemble a message transmitted in Morse code.

    Zosima's "Structural Deterioration" of Speednoise showcases a complete revamp of the original; in it, a gentle wheeze blows through spectrum alongside woeful synths as the languid kicks, paced at 115 BPM and tailed by the moderate pressure from lower range, make their way across 6 minutes in a company of subdued claps and drowning pads, ethereal hats and occasional, rhythmic gusts of noisy wind.

    While in the second—"Anachronistic"—Remix Zosima sets the tempo to 130 BPM, it still ends up being a largely unconventional rendition whose percussive elements are only there because they can be, and not because they serve a purpose of establishing rhythm. In this final piece, Zosima coordinates an intangible control over a chaos created by the elements' interaction that happens in a kind of digital environment that is statically immersed in dusk.

Release Type: EP

Release Date: 5 May 2018

Release Format: Digital • Vinyl

Record Label • Catalog: Skarn Division • SKARNDIVISION004

Purchase Links: Bandcamp