- Damaskin seems to have first surfaced last year through a stream of heavy (and unreleased) cuts on SoundCloud. He's affiliated with Paris's Unknown Precept label, which in April released his debut record, Unseen Warfare, a strong four-tracker notable for its range of noisy, abstract techno. In contrast, Kaona, his new EP on Rome's Concrete Records, is deeper stuff that sticks to more conventional forms.
Both "Kaona" and "Kaona II" are straightforward, smooth-sailing acid tracks cut from the same cloth. Both extend past the nine-minute mark while putting a few short 303 riffs to ceaseless work, and come topped off with rustling hi-hats and lightly whistling drones. "Kaona II" does get a little busier later on, but if this all sounds very by-the-books, they're at least done with clarity and restraint in both cases. A tense and thorny remix of "Kaona II" from Cassegrain completes the record, as a low, ominous gurgle gradually gives way to hair-raising mechanical squawks.
TracklistA1 Kaona
A2 Kaona II
B1 Kaona II (Cassegrain Remix)