I’ve written about Croatia’s Robert Pain before and you can rest assured I’ll write about him again. I first noticed him last year with his immense Black Queen debut and its follow up; the Inquistion EP for the Czech Republic’s Transporta.

He’s been building up a bit of a following in techno circles and rightly so; his techno is dark, uncompromising, defined and beautiful without being overly so. From cerebral deep to warehouse hard stomp he nests somewhere in between. He is one of my favourite techno artists around at the moment.

The four track Escape Attempts is up for download from his SoundCloud profile. It’s lighter in tone than his discography so far, even dare I say jacking in parts as Old dog and his Barking man will illustrate. And then there’s 65mins later going all out for a Detroit synth inspired flex.

My pick has to be Constant Shock. A jackhammer throb of a track. Relentless and piercing without being overpowered by a booming kickdrum.

Robert Pain – Escape Attempts
GRAB

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Robert Pain – Oldman and his Barking Dog
Robert Pain – Constant Shock
Robert Pain – Old Dog and his Barking Man
Robert Pain – 65mins Later