Pneumatic Detach

from the very first moments after I put my headphones on it became obvious that this is one of the most impressive releases I have heard in the longest time. it is one of those cases when everything works out perfectly - from excellent artwork by ben didier (I personally think it is his best work to date), to clean production, and strict selection of tracks. this is a second release for justin brink of boston after "experiments in psychosis" demo and a few compilation appearances. from the very first moments of opening "morphoine" I could only grin happily, nodding along with its absolutely shattering drive, savoring each unexpected turn, each spontaneous explosion of rhythms, each unusual sound. I have to confess that I did not immediately review the album when I got it over a month ago for the fear of raving about it too much and also trying to come up with something more profound, something worthy of this release. when listening to "pa-re-ses" I forget about the genres, I do not try to reference anything else out there, I just enjoy his sense of composition, his ability to build something so solid, so complex, so complete from so many styles. it seems like he never makes a wrong turn, always finding the best way, always having the perfect taste, the perfect balance, never becoming overbearing or cheesy, repetitive or formulaic, constantly managing to surprise me. each short track is a wonderful tangled mess of explosive heavyweight percussion; compressed, saturated beats ripping through layers and layers of tweaked strings, distorted monstrous basslines, thick ambient textures, unexpectedly slowing down to dark minimalism of drum&bass or vibrating industrial wasteland. its complexity and drive is mind-boggling, it is constantly morphing, mutating, switching tempos, adding and changing sonic layers. I am almost afraid to hear pneumatic detach at the club or live, it seems that the only listening it deserves is a set of good headphones and complete concentration. make this album your ultimate reference point, go back and measure others against it, make it a required pre-requisite for those that enter the genre, but for now, just get your hands on it.