- If you're going to start a techno label these days, you better set yourself apart. It's a hurdle that the six-month-old Resin, run by Pris, is having trouble clearing. After a serviceable turn from the man himself and a solid compilation EP, Resin returns for a third release sounding like it's out for blood. That's thanks to Metrist, a budding UK producer who forgoes moodiness on The People Without in favour of less forgiving—sometimes grating—sounds.
Metrist makes broken techno, but not in the sense that term usually implies. His tracks run on a stubborn engine that won't quite start, buzzing and growling before finally igniting with a lurch. "Letch" is the best thing he's put to record yet—the junkyard percussion is scuffed and dented, scraping out an ugly pattern with its uneven thrusts, while screeching basslines and bits of sonic terror add to the mood.
The rest of the EP offers variations on this theme, both good and bad. "Cowlick" is even dirtier, heaving forward with dive-bombing basslines and drums that move with all the finesse of a garbage truck. But "Symphony For The Palpitation" takes the idea too far, a sloppy mess of plodding drums and synths that try too hard to sound abrasive. "Stanza For The Weak," meanwhile, feels like a toddler banging together pots and pans to make as much as noise as possible. Once it gets going, the barebones skeleton of corroded pipe metal has a certain appeal, but it's clear that Metrist, like Resin, is still finding his way.
TracklistA1 Letch
A2 Symphony For The Palpitation
B1 Cowlick
B2 Stanza For The Weak