French electronic producer Michel Amato is best known for his dark-hued electro outings as The Hacker, but in 2014 he kicked off his new Amato alias with the track ‘Physique’ on the ‘Cititrax Volume One’ EP. Two years on, this 12” EP ‘Le Desordre et La Nuit’ finally offers up Amato’s proper debut release under his new moniker, offering up four tracks that if anything, delve even more deeply into dark EBM and New Beat than his work as The Hacker. ‘Deranged’ kicks things off with tumbling analogue synth sequences that sound like they’ve stepped straight off of a Nitzer Ebb record tightly interlocking with zapping percussive hits and clicking hi-hats as bleeps and buzzes dart around the edges of the mix.
If there’s a sense of relentlessly building tension to the darkly funky arpeggios that spiral at the centre of the track, it’s periodically disrupted by the unpredictable phasing and the sudden noise-filled drop outs that recur throughout. ‘Hey’ aims itself slightly more towards an electro breakers’ dancefloor as a Kraftwerk meets Dopplereffekt synth sequence burbles against relentless punching 4/4 kicks (there’s even a stray vintage Depeche Mode sample in there if you listen closely), the EBM-hued rhythms accelerating up into a higher gear as sudden distorted analogue synth squeals tear like a blowtorch at the sheeny surfaces.
Elsewhere, ‘The Labyrinth’ brings on moody Italo-disco shades as bright zapping tones ripple across a backbone of flexing 808-loaded electro-house rhythms and rich analogue synth arpeggiation, in what’s easily one of the more limber and gliding offerings here. Finally, ‘The Warehouse’ takes this collection out with a pulsating wander off into juddering EBM bass synth sequences and bright echoing stabs that sees delay-drenched kickdrums flashing like strobe lights against rolls of clicking 808 toms. If you’re into the more muscular EBM-fuelled side of The Hacker along the lines of his surging ‘Reves Mecaniques’ album, this latest EP should go down a treat.
