seven

I have received this compilation before an official announcement of possessive blindfold going away. I was going to say back then that it seemed like the label that originally released exoskeleton 1 and 2 was moving more and more towards styles represented by unit. of course recent announcement makes perfect sense, once you have heard the material on this compilation. on the other hand, I do wonder how this label, having gridlock and dryft, would be positioned in respect to n5md label, since gridlock and dryft are signed to unit. I can only assume, that judging by today's roster of the artists on unit, the label will still position itself somewhere between idm and hard technoid sounds.

this compilation would logically be a continuation of "xxxd generation", presenting both melodic idm and harsh rhythmic patterns.

"beta" by aural blasphemy is a very impressive and somewhat surprising mix of dark ambient and slow saturated percussion - this balance is something I was looking for getting tired of simplicity of straight rhythm and noise. deep eerie ambience, structured, heavy, oppressive - reminds me of better converter tracks off "shock front".

"splay" by aneurysm is somewhat amusing breakcore/gabber assault with explosive dynamics and nice production; I thoroughly enjoyed its switching tempos and contrast between pummeling beats and quieter moments.

I never was really impressed with h.p.p., and although this time he is trying to move somewhere with this track, it is still a little to straightforward - too my energy not going anywhere.

maybe it was something in the air, or peer pressure, but even bauke (the [law-rah] collective) is dropping beats on his track "submission" - tweaked analog sounds, frequencies and pummeling straightforward percussion. I am not sure if it would work by itself, but it sounds ok surrounded by other diverse tracks.

I truly enjoyed crunchy splatter rhythms of "odious" by zymosiz - maybe I did not notice it before, but this track has quite a lot of diversity, punching and hissing, exploding and bouncing around.

reset is jumpy and minimal as usual, not sure if I could take more than one track at a time. savak with "kabul" delivers dense rhythmic electronics, simple and yet building eerie atmosphere with all the frequencies and building ambience.

"tweaker" by exclipsect is a nice transition between the rhythmic industrial world and idm. it is a little disorganized, piling up rhythmic percussion and tangled splinters of idm.

of course gridlock's "rewound" could be a single reason to get this compilation. wonderfully arranged strings and saturated percussion explosions among minimal barren landscape. the melody is something unforgettable. dryft with "I kick a dead horse" is back to its old polished drum&bass self - high-bpm, melodic and irresistibly beautiful.

element 11 with "mingh" is a unit newcomer. melancholic melodic idm with heavy aggressive drops of percussion; something that can remind you of funckarma's "parts." definitely a welcome addition to unit family.

brooklyn's jvox with "kingcore" is yet another new name on the label with upcoming full-length in 2002. his brand of spacey, transparent, slightly atonal melodic idm is filled with little bleeps and clicks supported by driving persistent rhythm and nicely placed atmospheric breaks, fading into fragile ambience. something that definitely will not go unnoticed.

all in all, this is a wonderful compilation, further defining profile of the label. I can only wish best of luck to scott with all his future endeavors.