Rrose - Eating The Other FLAC album

Savage grace. Polyrhythmic invasions, brain thawing acid, inflecting moods, and hallucinatory audio waves permeate throughout the latest solo effort from the constantly bracing Rrose. All three tracks are chock-full with the kind of slow building, multi-layered intensity and meticulous focus on detail that typify his music.

The A side contains some of his most challenging work yet. Pentagons is a roller coaster of percolating synths which gradually spirals out of control, amounting to a galaxy of frantic chord stabs, which turn more caustic as the music progresses. The kick drum is slamming, and with the perfectly pitched pacing, the inevitable hectic climax, Pentagons is one of Rros'e tougher dance floor work outs, and definitely a lethal peak time affair, which, if used right, can cause more damage than one initially imagines. As usual, there is a pulsating cosmos of captivating sonic arrangements and the producer's seemingly endless sound palette goes as afield as it has ever gone.

Enter Ammonia. Apparently chaotic and berserk, at first it will sound like auditory dyslexia. From the more inhibited ouverture, it soon evolves into a proper living organism of break beats, heavy drones, uncountable layers of frenetic synth work, all of which envelops you in a hurricane manner, as the music carefully closes in on itself, coming full circle as it climaxes on top of a three dimensional bassline that is just plain fractious, like quicksilver from a broken thermometer. Not only that, but there is didgeridoo like vibe throughout thrown in for good measure, and due to the fractured rhythms and percussion, Ammonia kind of reminds me of another vintage classic, AFX's Didgeridoo, which is an accolade I have never before given to any other track. Huge words, I know, but give this beast a spin, or you're really missing out on something special. Ammonia conjures up images of dancing under the star studded sky some two hundred meters away from the Stonehenge with a bunch of stubborn, fanatical raving freaks. What a gem!

On the B side resides Mirror, and it takes the entire slab of vinyl for itself, with its duration clocking in at some eleven and a half minutes. The more experimental side of Rrose's output can be found here. While the previous two numbers are forged to satisfy insane dance floors, here he delivers a fizzing minimal techno track to acid ridden climaxes and a droning conclusion, consisting of a three minute passage of buzzing midrange sounds that incessantly crackle, testing your patience, like when you watch TV, and the screen goes all grey, noisy & fuzzy. Here the irritation goes to unforseen heights, and just when you feel like you could not take any more, Rrose pulls the plug. The End. Unlike the previous efforts, Mirror doesn't really tend to erupt, its climax is an exteneded one, and due to its slowly evolving structure, you actually never get the feeling that the the track has "gotten there", although the complexity and the density of the sound elements used is staggering. Yet another masterpiece, a maelstrom of metallic synths, blaring acid and delicious filter tweaks.

Rrose, and his label Eaux for that matter, have set the bar very, very high up the ladder in less than ten releases. After last year's contribution to the Monad series, and the jaw dropping monster Shrouds from the "Waterfall Variations" EP, I seriously wondered if expectations can be met and if the standard could be maintained. To clear all doubts, the actively ambiguous American producer shows no signs of slowing down, in terms of quality or elusiveness. This is a compulsory addition to your collection if you're after that hallucinogenic, subterranean techno. If you are, get this, and rest assured that the release of "Eating The Other" will further reinforce the sonic niche that the Eaux label has carved out for itself.

Pentagons is LEGENDARY