- In lieu of singles, The Black Dog's 10th album, released later this month, is accompanied by a flurry of standalone EPs. Having tapped Luke Slater for the first in their Darkhaus quartet, the group reaches out to further electronic royalty in the shape of Downwards' Regis for the follow-up. Fans of coal-black UK techno should consider themselves spoilt.
Opener "Cracked" is The Black Dog at their most expansive, its arps unfolding amid industrial clanks and groans, before resolving post-breakdown into a thumping nod to Detroit's second wave. In comparison, both versions of "Broken Mind" remain firmly in the shadows. The original is a slab of strident warehouse techno, its engines growling beneath swirling bells. Regis keeps the essentials intact but dials up the dread, switching out the original's 4/4 with rhythms that swagger against the tide. Up top, the machines rattle through loops that unfurl at typically glacial pace, as static-clad drills puncture sweeping clouds of reverb.
TracklistA Cracked
B1 Broken Mind
B2 Broken Mind (Regis Remix)