Rome-born Francesco Seri aka Frankie Serious has really come a long way since his productions were first released in 2009. And he hasn't really been releasing all that much since that time, but things that he did - in particular, his two EPs on Hungarian label Switch Off Records in between 2015 and 2016, boasted decent production quality and their immediate effectiveness on the dancefloor. Less than half a year after his latest EP Periodic Variations, we're presented with another, far more substantial contribution - Symmetry Breaking LP - his first album, combining ten truly wonderful, imaginative, inspiring and highly varied gathering of his works, works that don't hold back in neither passion nor energy, and mind you, don't contain any fillers, which, given current tendencies on the techno scene, in our regards deserves an instant respect point. Let's take a closer look.

    On one side, you have instantly captivating, emotional, marvelous minor key melodies in compositions that utilize all the right elements (by times even appropriately bringing up piano stabs) to squeeze your heart and make it skip a good number of beats - Explicitly, Fluctuations, Clockworks, Amber Spikes - these four don't even require any percussion to carry the listener away and induce a state of deeply melancholic reminiscence. Then there is a proper counterbalance - inspiriting, upbeat pieces, generous in energy giveaway and capable at giving a push to wake up and get moving - namely Sublimation, Polywaves, Time Domain, Microtexture and Truncation. The album ends in mesmerizing IDM number Tentacles Rebuilt (Tool), which might as well have come out of Autechre's own studio; it utilizes complex, unpredictably mutating every second, cybernetic basslines and unstable, erratic percussion, constantly shifting in BPM values, speeding up, breaking the rhythm, and picking up the pace again.

    We'll conclude by saying that the album ranges from 125 to 130 BPM and comes up to a great set of club tools while also being a great journey to take on your own. It is, without a shred of doubt, one of our favorite techno albums of 2016, which is something we could not expect from artist we barely know anything about. We don't give away 5 stars easily, but this one calls for it. Well done, sir. Flawless album and a great achievement. Highly recommended for fans of Edit Select, Ness and NX1.

Release Type: Album

Release Date: 13 December 2016

Release Format: Digital

Record Label • Catalog: Switch Off Records • SORLP002

Purchase Links: Beatport • Junodownload