Beneath - No Symbols 004

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  • The recent Vobes EP for PAN saw Beneath contort his muscular UK techno into a series of intriguing new geometries. This return to his own No Symbols, the imprint with which he made his name, feels like a bit of a climbdown. The producer's style is well established by this point—the sinister atmospheres, weighty sub-bass and schlocky sampled monologues (including, naturally, one about bass frequencies) here will all be familiar. It's a compelling and distinctive approach, but there are surely fresher ways of expressing it than on No Symbols 004. Slow-mo electro number "Golden Age" is muscular but staid; even an enormous dubwise bassline and a collection of sirens fail to prevent the intensity levels from sagging. "Luisa," meanwhile, trudges along without saying much. You sense there's drama in its frosty chords and sampled horns, but they're buried so low in the mix that they hardly make an impression. The friskier "Internal," whose restless bassline and minor-key melodica vaguely recall Shackleton, does redeem things a little. Still, now that we know Beneath can push things much further, we're going to expect him to do it.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Golden Age B1 Internal B2 Luisa
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