- When Dominick Fernow's Vatican Shadow project experiments with techno, its signature horizontal sweep gets crushed into a ball. Fernow excels at telling a story with open spaces, deteriorating textures, allusive samples and controlled tension. That's all there on "Monotheism And Zarqa," but it's linked to techno's tight-cycling circles, which condense and blur the narrative into something more visceral. It trades subtlety for bulk, but the clang of metal and half-heard background details make this more suggestive than your average techno fare. Although his work loses some profundity and originality in this mode, it's instantly recognisable in the context of a techno DJ set.
If Fernow's side feels like choking on plumes of toxic smoke, Ancient Methods' side evokes a forced march. But as always, the pump-action stomp of his rhythms are deceptively funky. Each downbeat in "Immured In Supreme Beliefs" is like a boot in the face, but it lunges the dance forward with each repetition. It's oppressive but deliriously fun, so extravagant that it's invigorating.
TracklistA Vatican Shadow - Monotheism And Zarqa
B Ancient Methods - Immured In Supreme Beliefs