Impressive stuff for a debut release from Brooklyn’s Hound Scales through his co-owned (with Divvorce) Fifth Wall label.

With a clanking industrial edge and redlined kickdrums, these tracks were made with warehouses in mind. And yet there are some great sounds and progressions going on. Clearly designed for dark, grimy raves, there’s enough going on to keep a more relaxed listener interested over the five original, brackets-heavy tracks.

Everything is turned up to 11, and in particular, Stasi Flex (Homme Plus) and Black Bile (Dog Star) push some tones into harsh, ear-grinding territory. If there was one complaint it would be that for all the inventiveness, the kicks are a little too monotonously 4/4, but remixes from Ghosts on Tape and Isolated Lines change that up nicely. While Sheffield’s The Weald adds a nice, slightly cleaner take on Black Bile (Dog Star). Sounds like someone in New York has been to a few warehouses recently…

Grab

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Hound Scales – Case (Nabis)
Hound Scales – Stasi Flex (Homme Plus)
Hound Scales – Black Bile (Dog Star)
Hound Scales – Storyville (Too Young for a Devil)
Hound Scales – Surrender Dorothy
Hound Scales – Case (Nabis) (Ghosts on Tape remix)
Hound Scales – Stasi Flex (Homme Plus) (Isolated Lines remix)
Hound Scales – Black Bile (Dog Star) (The Weald remix)
5WALL 001