- Naming your tracks after Greek deities gives a certain weight of seriousness before the listening has even begun. Thankfully Dino Sabatini's new two part EP has the deeply sinister goods to back up these lofty titles. In a time when the overriding direction of electronic music seems to be heading in a more optimistic, joyful direction, it's refreshing to be dragged back to the industrial depths of dark, atmospheric techno by those who know how.
"Stheno" doesn't so much kick things off as warn us of the potential terrors to come. It's all seething malice and tensely reverberating metal, broken once or twice by a snarling synth stab that injects itself through your skull by way of a rusty syringe. Think severely stripped-down Prodigy, if Liam had despised everything in the outside world and was making tunes to stop people coming within 50 feet of his studio. "Perseus" contains the kind of kick/bass that should come with a health warning, the overwhelming quality of which is offset but never diminished by a hammer-like snare and shrieking pads. "Hyginus" is more melodic, but equally as unsettling, an arpeggiated lead weaving its way disquietingly around the pulsing bass.
On Part II, another apocalyptic kick/bass combo greets us in "Tethys," not so much shaking you warmly by the hand but instead fracturing your fist in a vice-like grip. This combined with the metallic clattering of its lead would have all but the most staunch dance floor warriors retreating—weeping—to the far corners of the club. Thing are equally as intimidating with "Scylla," a techno interpretation of the Psycho shower scene complete with whirring, whipping blades and terrified screaming. "Ceto," by comparison, is positively relaxing, bounding bass and mild distortion giving a relaxing aural massage to those few who made it all the way to the bitter (and satisfying) end.
TracklistA1 Stheno
A2 Hyginus
B1 Perseus
A1 Scylla
B1 Ceto
B2 Tethys