When Hamburg-based electronic producer / DJ Terence Fixmer first emerged back in 1999 with his debut album ‘Muscle Machine’ he was associated with DJ Hell’s International Deejay Gigolos crew, but since then he’s spent the last fifteen years developing into one of the figureheads of the post-EBM / industrial techno scene. Five years on from his preceding ‘Comedy Of Menace’ collection, this fifth album on Chris Liebing’s CLR label ‘Depth Charged’ certainly contains plenty of his signature dark pounding techno action, but at the same time it’s remarkable just how broad a territory Fixmer manages to cover over these ten tracks. ‘Ellipse’ opens this collection with the harder beats at the forefront as distorted snares flex against buzzing, wasp-like bass synths and punching kickdrum pulse slowly gathers pace, the entire track calling to mind some ominous wander through a post-apocalyptic landscapes as thudding tribal drums rise into place in the background against the relentless machine thump.
‘Fleeting Beauty’ maintains the mechanistic throb as a muted, almost hypnotic 4/4 techno pulse powers beneath eerie ambient noises that call mind factory equipment shutting down and an arpeggiated bass sequence injects a distinct EBM-electro groove, before ‘Purity’ offers a complete change of pace as buzzing analogue synths growl against sparse downbeat kickdrums, the occasional interjection of reverb-drenched handclaps adding a dubbed out edge to the dark hued electronics that squelch and burble below. It’s closing track ‘Elevation’ that easily offers up the biggest surprise here though, with Fixmer eschewing his usual techno stylings almost completely in favour of shoegazer-esque crawl through live bass runs and phased guitar tones that suddenly sees the flexing 4/4 drums reappearing right towards the end, in a suitably epic and contemplative curtain-roller to this collection. Longtime Fixmer fans shouldn’t be disappointed with ‘Depth Charged.’
