Headless
Horseman: 47009 (47)
Tommy
Four Seven’s 47 label brings the fury yet again with Headless
Horseman’s latest. Anyone who’s heard Tommy’s records should know by
now that he’s a fan of fairly brutal, no nonsense techno, the sort of
heavy-handed vitriol that one might associate with turn of the
century records from Regis, Tresor, or, more recently, Perc Trax.
It’s functional for a dancefloor and no doubt sounds great loud, but
I think it works just as well on a good pair of headphones, pummeling
the eardrums just as it would compel the body to move in a club
setting. “Widow’s Peak” kicks it off with a cascade of noise and
pounding, busy kicks, staggered snares, and reverberated, distorted
claps, but “Shattered” ups the ante even further with a harrowing
sense of urgency. It’s a full-on warehouse banger of a track,
dancefloor-ready and packing some serious punch.
The second half of
the release feels less harried; “Bleeding Arrows” takes it down
to a slower groove, still downright industrial in its timbre and
arrangement, nervous, fidgety patterns atop a syncopated, slower
beat, while closing cut “The Day She Vanished” more fully
harnesses the power of the halfbeat with big, spacious reverb and
gloomy, hazy pads. It’s a solid entry in the realm of hard techno
physicality, well worth it for anyone who likes their dance music
more aggressive and visceral.
Buy it: Bandcamp
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