Hailing from the rural outskirts of Manchester, dark electronic duo Akkord (real names Joe McBride and Liam Blackburn) have spent the last four years fusing surgically precise techno influences with dark bass-laden ambience over a series of impressive 12” EPs, mainly on the Houndstooth label. Two years on from their debut self-titled album, this latest longplayer ‘HTH035’ compiles together the four tracks that made up last year’s ‘HTH020’ EP alongside its remix companion EP ‘HTH030’, whilst also tossing two previously unreleased remixes into the bargain. ‘Gravure’ opens proceedings with an ominous crawl through relentless clanking metallic percussion and squelching, wet-sounding sub-bass groans, distant thudding kickdrums fading into focus against clicking bursts of static and cold machine bleeps. While the sense of tension continually winds up, it never really gets released, even as vaguely rave-y stabs suddenly jut out towards the track’s second half against the eerily spacious cycling rhythms. Indeed, it calls to mind an ultra-austere take on Techno Animal’s cyborg thud as much as it does say, one of Emptyset’s dark post-techno explorations.
‘Continuum’ meanwhile sees clattering breakbeats that call to mind classic Wall Of Sound locking in against a dark sub-bass pulse that calls to mind a humming powerline as vocal samples get stretched into eerie howls. If it manages to shift the mood straight towards the dancefloor without losing any of the accompanying swirling darkness, ‘Typeface’ nicely picks up the baton and runs with it, sending things accelerating off into treacherous tech-house as dark overdriven sub-bass surges against spidery off-step snares and trails of chilly ambience. The remixes included here also manage to impress, with an impressive cast of artists working their magic on ‘HTH020’s original four tracks. The Haxan Cloak takes elements from all four tracks and blends them into a ten minute wander through dark crawling sub-bass pulses and slow metallic hip hop rhythms, distant eerie vocal chants adding to the occult atmosphere, before the track’s second half sees things building into grinding DSP-contorted beats and harsh synth buzzes. Vatican Shadow meanwhile rearranges parts of ‘Typeface’ and Greyscale’ into an eight minute ride through eerie minor-key pads and streamlined jacking techno rhythms, resulting in a hypnotic yet visceral fusion that provides what’s probably this EP’s most ‘straightforward’ dancefloor offering. Spine-chillingly impressive stuff, indeed.
