Rene Reiter, Black.Art, Maxx – Carbon Audio 05 (Carbon Audio)

Defqon 3 is a tale of rising panic, with a subterranean, echo-soaked kick supplemented by siren motifs and a truly terrifying central riff. There is an epic, slowly unfolding quality to it as well. Imagine a really hard-assed remix of a Sabres of Paradise tune circa 1996 and you get the idea.

Defqon 5, meanwhile, is a showstopper, up there with the best of the year. A magnesium flare, a wired and wide-eyed blast of utter madness, it starts hard and fast then around the halfway mark throws off its kimono and with a synthesised scream goes bonkers, chucking riffs around and unleashing some of the best and most brutal acid known to man. It’s the kind of track that makes you grin; that makes you do that whoosh thing with your mouth; that reminds why you got into Acid Techno in the first place.

Over to next door, and if there was an exact point where industrial techno met the wide-eyed riff-frenzy of acid techno, Black.Art’s Rust would be it, a lovely old-school flavour to this track. With Maxx and Rene Reiter’s VD galloping us past the finish line for what is an exceptional, nay, essential release.

Release date: August 1, 2013

Carbon Audio online

Zenith Distribution page (including samples to download)

All 2011, All Acid Techno Mix

Here’s a mix I made of… well, it’s a bit daft to say it’s the ‘best’ Acid Techno of 2011 so far, since I can’t possibly presume to be familiar with it all but this is the best Acid Techno of 2011 that I’ve heard, at least.

The tracklisting is…

D.A.V.E The Drummer - Acid In The Box
D.A.V.E The Drummer & Chris Liberator - Twinkle Toes
Jamie C - Shitbag
Sterling Moss - Never Give In
A.P - Can't Get Enough
Syndrome – MFT (D.A.V.E. The Drummer Remix)
Austin Corrosive - The Drums
Ben Fraser - Tek Stream
Nitronoise - Missed F*ck
DDR And James Kinetic - The Cross Joint
D.A.V.E. The Drummer & Tassid - Keep It Going
Sterling Moss - Rock N Rolla
Chris Liberator & Darc Marc - Happy Birthday LSD
Nitronoise - Acid Crumble
A.P - Ride It
D.A.V.E The Drummer - Stop The System
Chris Liberator, Sterling Moss & Maxx - Deadly Swine
Hectech - Lock'n Loud

Chris Liberator, Sterling Moss & Maxx – Fuck that Beat EP (Cluster Records)

Cat no: Cluster 90
Release date: 16/02/11

Deadly Swine **
BPM: 145
Great swacky noises and a big-boy kickdrum open the A-side, which thunders along with a sinister build until a short break around the halfway mark, kicking back in at 3.05. It’s not about build-and-release here, though, it’s about the head-messing noises and restless screeching that give the whole thing a sense of barely controlled, nervy psychosis. Majestic stuff, and one of the best tunes of this year so far.

Fuck that Beat
BPM: 145
‘Fuck that beat’ says the sample. Or does it? Perhaps it says ‘rock’ or even ‘ruck’ that beat – neither of which improves matters. The track itself isn’t that bad, and I dare say that if you stripped out the sample it might be okay as a tool. But as it stands it’s a not-as-exciting Dr Jekyll to Deadly Swine’s menacing Hyde.