Abstraxion - Temple of the Sun

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  • One of my favorite records of 2008, Abstraxion's Six Eight introduced a raw and unhinged breed of electro. Each track bristled with unpredictable energy, shot through with weird animal-like synthesizers that growled and darted around the stereof ield without warning. Now Harold Boulé returns with a darker sound on Temple of the Sun, the fifth 12-inch from his Paris-based Biologic imprint. "B and S" opens the record with a buzzy groove that slowly unfolds into an aggressive sheet of brassy noise and funhouse effects that ride an uncomfortable line between aural destabilization and novelty trick. "Slices," however, is much more disciplined and streamlined; this track is designed for speeding. It takes a minute or two to fully rev up but the payoff is big, with twin monster synthesizers barreling down the fast lane, chewing up asphalt and demonstrating Boule's power to pack a song full of unpredictable spinouts without leaving behind the beat. Picking up where "Slices" ends, the title track is a filthy cut of electro with a snarling synthesizer that threatens to rip loose and start hurling furniture around the room. Sometimes Boulé's melodies get a bit too wild and discomfiting. Perhaps sensing this, "Vampyros Lesbos" closes the EP with a low-key and slightly chintzy haunted house riff. You can almost see the madman hunched over the organ and just when the gimmick wears thin, the drums kick in and the track shifts into a stunning 8-bit cloak-and-dagger soundtrack that sounds like the best bits of Legend of Zelda smashed into Spy Hunter and amplified for the big screen. Abstraxion's music is chaotic and freewheeling, occasionally to the point of distraction, but it's always fun—an element that's often missing from the darker side of electro.
  • Tracklist
      A1 B And S A2 Slices B1 Temple Of The Sun B2 Vampyros Lesbos
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