Armatura Records latest offering, from Netherlands’ Raphael Acohen, is ticking all the right boxes here at Darkfloor.

Never Let The Gods Decide is a dark and dank techno EP – but crucially Acohen adds glimmers of melodic light into the shadow.

Take Burning Kingdom as a prime example – fractured, gravel pitted stomps clank, or rather claw their way forward with what is an essentially an upbeat, empowering melodic rhythm.

In the insurgence of the harder, industrial techno sound – many are putting out great stompers, but neglecting anything other than balls-to-the-wall jackhammer power. That’s fine for a club tool that sits in the record box for a little while but it doesn’t offer much that another club tool banger will replace in the next few weeks with its equally tough-as-a slab of stripped club steel. Introducing melody that works can be a tricky business in techno. Complex and polyrhythmic work can easily lose DJs and crowds who want to just dance not chin stroke – anything too simplistic will feel by the numbers, and tacked on. Acohen’s found the right balance here – much like Ruskin and Broom’s Fear Ratio project and the ever reliable bossman of the style Inigo Kennedy – he’s found the sweet spot.

GRAB

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Raphael Acohen – A Deceitful Witness That Uttererth Lies
Raphael Acohen – All That Is Hidden
Raphael Acohen – Burning Kingdom
Raphael Acohen – Deadly Covers