Producing music for over 3 years, it is only now that Poland-born Thomas Hengsle has finally put forth a release that isn't a scattering of tracks on his Soundcloud. No sir, the Eurocrack (pardon me?) is an EP containing three marvelous original works plus a swell rework from an evergreen producer Paul Birken, who by the way has been recently nominated for the people's choice award as the most amusingly-looking techno producer dressed up in a bear suit (look up).

    "It's dead, Jim"—you might involuntarily think to yourself after hearing an introductory flatline signal, but the truth is, for the titular piece the death is only the beginning, and as soon as that minute of flatlining shall pass, this 134-BPM opener will reveal the real colors of pretty much entire EP—the rugged, unmistakably analogous feel of the audio is as perceptible from the whanging, half-muffled kicks as it is from the acidic, whimsical basslines and abrasive hats and claps that resound a sheer low-passed noise, processed with a grimy filter and cut into samples; evidently being a live jam, Eurocrack picks up the energy exponentially throughout the 10 minutes that it runs, so basically, it's precisely the kind of music that you want to score your workplace coffee break to by jacking a floor-wide PA—assuming you're up for an interesting experience and have absolutely no fear of consequences. While running at the same tempo, Metamorfosis Structure clearly has a different, bleaker story to tell: here, the gloom is as persistent in sound as it would be in a lonesome trek across an underground network of abandoned railway tunnels—all thanks to an ever-present, low-to-mid-range humming that accompanies the listener at every moment throughout, and neither the stubbornly striking 4/4 kicks, atonal stabs, sandy hats nor the grinding backdrop can oust that uneasy vibe by trying to drown it out; if anything, the percussion only adds a darker shade of black to the mix. Kicking off with an anxious chirping that gradually turns into a driving bassline, the penultimate track uses an array of discordant, swiftly alternating arrangements to achieve a feeling similar to standing in an epicenter of a factory whose every machinery operates with an independent rhythm—often syncopated, counteracting one another in pace, time signature, and pitch, and yet somehow M.O.R.D.O makes a coherent and continuous whole—it only needs a human mind to decode its convoluted and unconventional audio message. Going 4 BPM points above the original's tempo, Paul Birken utilizes polyrhythms in hats and delay in bell-pads—apart from straightforwardly running hats and numerous layers of acid basslines that is, presenting us with yet another delightfully cacophonous rework that serves as an accurate audio representation of what goes on in a psychopath's head while he's eating an ice cream filled with his victim's eyeballs; lovely!

    Ultimately, Hengsle proves to be a valuable addition to the label's roster, and there's absolutely no way in hell or otherwise that you can skip this number of the catalog if you consider yourself a fan of Variance and what it stands for.

Release Type: EP

Release Date: 31 January 2018

Release Format: Digital

Record Label • Catalog: Variance • VAR028

Purchase Links: Bandcamp • Beatport • Junodownload