Due to the big delays in the vinyl pressing factories, the last two 12″ of Valencian label Soil Records have been released almost at the same time. They were two of the first records I bought in this 2022 as they were in one of my favorite records stores the day I was coming back from my long Christmas holidays.
The first of these 12″ is a split between two French artists entitled Liftoff. In charge of opening the A-side is Blind Delon, a band that has appeared repeatedly in this web and we have even interviewed them. Here we can find their EBM side in two punchy tracks: “Pagan War” and “Queens Kings.” Our favorite is the last one that has a euphoric feeling, one of the best composition of the band. This year we have also bought their EP on VEYL and also a couple more issues that were missing in our collection.
We first heard of IV Horsemen thanks to his collaboration in the never-enough-praised album Shaped to Form by Chris Shape, where we could also find Blind Delon. The French producer has recorded three powerful EPs (we have two of them at home), and also founded the project Poison Point, which has recorded for the prestigious label aufnahme + wiedergabe.
IV Horsemen presents two industrial techno tracks, being “Off The Grind” the best moment of the pair. A perfect composition who would have a stellar protagonist in any of Dead Violets Night’s set as it has the darkness characteristic of her sets.
The second vinyl we want to review is the new work of Greek producer Alpha Sect. He has been releasing material since 2019 and this last 2021 was very productive for him as he recorded four EPs. The one we want to write about, entitled Dark Rituals contains three original tracks and three remixes, one of Filmmaker, a regular artist in the label, another by Trenton Chase famous by his Planar Array and the last one by Sydney Valette. The cassette version adds another track and three more remixes.
As the name of this new work states, Alpha Sect finds his mystic side in these dark rituals. The album starts with “Sacred Beliefs”: powerful EBM with sturdy rhythm and religious vocal samples. “The Sacred Handbook” it’s not behind in terms of strength and energy. The third track “Résister Pour Exister” features the voice of Valérie Hendrich and a rhythm hard as granite that makes it our favorite of the album. Overall, we have found three compositions that we have really loved.
Focusing on the remixes, Trenton Chase gives prominence to the killer synths. French producer Sydney Valette makes “Secret Handbook” a bit heavier and dramatic and also adds some voices but always keeping that characteristic propeller sound of the original. Last but not least, our favorite it’s Filmaker‘s, a name to follow that soon it’s going to play live in Madrid.
