OCTAL INDUSTRIES Vinilo y CD

Review: The latest release on AE Recordings showcases a whole host of excellent producers versed in the language of icy Scandinavian techno. Anton Kubikov is up first with the forlorn leads and dubby ripples of "When Is Deep", which is followed up by a wonderfully dusty deep house locomotive from Ohm & Octal Industries. Thor gets into a strident micro house groove on "Who Stole My Yacht", peppering the swung drums with plenty of immersion chamber echoes and pings. SCSI9 makes a welcome return to close the record out with "Aetherius", a classic minimal tech house bouncer with plenty of spooky atmospherics on top of the mid-00s flavoured synth hooks.

Review: The much celebrated return of Thule continues to yield high grade delights from the frosty plains of Icelandic dub techno, this time heralding the return of the mighty Octal Industries who pair up with Ohm for a masterclass in immersive, expressive trips to the outer reaches. The particular twist on classic dub techno to be found on this record feels both familiar and utterly original at the same time, rich with subtle detail and yet still cavernous in its execution. There's a housey lurch beating away in "Utkall", while "Sedna" creeps along in a predatory fashion, but all four tracks are bound together by a fine selection of misty atmospherics.

Review: Astonishingly, "Chaos Game" is the eighth collaborative EP from Ohm (Bjarnar Jonsson) and Octal Industries (Jonas Thor Gudmundsson) since 2016. Like its predecessors, it offers a tough, club ready take on dub techno that peppers a variety of chunky, peak-time grooves with undeniably spacey elements. The best of the bunch - in our opinion at least - is opener "Breather", where dubbed-out synthesizer riffs and echoing chords bubble along over sparse beats before the Scandinavian pair bring in a heavy beat midway through. Elsewhere, "Strange Attractors" is hypnotic, odd and otherworldly, while closing cut "Creation" is the most dub-fired of the lot, largely because its hazy vocal samples and riffs pay tribute to soundsystem culture in the best possible way.