Tensal leads the pack with three stripped back and tastefully gritty, Industrial-flavored tracks on Belgian imprint, DOMU.
As a man of vast experience in the realm of Techno, Héctor Sandoval has been a leading figure as a half of the duo Exium since 1999, and as Tensal since 2014. This year, he’s explored more Industrial influences and deeper distortion aesthetics. Some of that is certainly present on this “Dethroned” EP, where the machinelike call-and-response is bathed in distorted atmospheres but kept rather well reserved and wrapped up in this tight, intense package. At most, each of these songs is pushing 4-5 tracks maximum at any minute. It’s the intensity, subtle modulation, and layered distortion that makes each song on the EP rich and varied.
Taking a deeper dive into the first two tracks on the release, “Sacre” and “Ufological”, they share this kind of grim and gray feel to them with some subtly placed modulation or intoxicated extended vibrato to the synths, while the drums are just ripped to shreds by a few layers of distortion. On “Sacre,” this is evident, since the drums and related distortion have a very 3D quality to them. The more destroyed and shredded parts of the drums are upfront and high in the mix, while the true drums are buried behind it and another less pronounced layer of distortion as if we’re looking at drums through double-paned glass that is made entirely up of distortion. Of course, all this blistering distortion wouldn’t be anything without a little bit of relief for a cooling pad. Tensal has allowed us that much.
On “Ufological”, Tensal is playing with the 3D space again, this time using some binaural tricks to have some parts of the mix fly behind our ears a little bit as ripping distortion tears apart some white noise synths. In this track, also we’re hearing a bit more deeper into the grinding call-and-response Industrial with a more pronounced backbeat, while that intoxicated modulation is messing with the sequenced or gated synth hits. As if this doesn’t get intense enough, there’s a deeper pad to really set on top of your shoulders at the end, making you carry the weight of this song. It has all of four elements at any time, but seems like it’s made of powder coated hardened steel.
Last up on the release, we’ve got the title track “Dethroned,” which is coated in some hairy distortion and guided by a grooving octaved synth sequence set against a very ‘silvery’ tambourine line for high-end tension. In the absence of the tambourine, some pitched interstitial elements really mess with the gravity of the synthesizer line, which is especially evident in the build during the main break. Again, there’s not too much in the way of having a lot of elements at play here. Additionally, it’s good to note that there are some Industrial ideas here, but the song has a good happy middle ground between it and Techno that is very pure.
It seems like a lot of the Industrial Techno these days may have gone too far into the grim and horrific dark side. And sadly, a lot of the actual Industrial these days has so much gloss and amateur schtick to it that it’s difficult to even say that this used to be the music of NIN, Ministry, or Skinny Puppy. However, it’s great to hear a lot of interesting artistic ideas being done with distortion, with the current technology we have in an industrial aesthetic, and in a very artistic and experienced manner. Even better when it’s Techno and has a groove and functions as music you can dance to.
This “Dethroned” EP proves that in Techno, there’s a lot to be learned if you spend the time swimming in the thoughts of the producer—you’re guaranteed to be rewarded. A lot of times, you’re rolling through track after track in the virtual bins, trying to hear something dope… Most people really would possibly miss this EP, because it’s not overtly exciting. But if you have ears for quality and artistry, this EP will stop you dead in your tracks. When you fully dive in, there’s a lot to think about and examine; which to any real techno fan is what it’s all about.
-Sean Ocean
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