Published by Alessandro Violante on April 10, 2019
We didn’t say it enough. In the last years, Udo Wiessman‘s label HANDS has progressively started a process of music metamorphosis which, without disappointing the old school fans thanks to the releases produced by its most famous acts, has positively greeted the comeback of subversive techno in the so called “industrial” scenario.
HANDS started to release more music on vinyl, the format of techno music, as a reflection of this change, as well as focusing on artists involved in this kind of hybridization. First there was Geistform, who’s moved from old school rhythmic noise to a more techno-oriented approach, then there were Ontal, Supersimmetria, Cacophoneuses and Tomohiko Sagae among others, each of them celebrating this alchemic formula in his unique way. The Canadian duo MDD is the last discovery of Udo Wiessmann, a new talented project found by the German talent scout. Reverse The Contrast is their debut album.
A complex and well-structured album, which perfectly incarnates the new direction undertaken by the German label, but which, above all, exhibits a mature, defined and rich sound. Now the hybridization of techno and rhythmic noise has reached its maturity, and Reverse The Contrast is a very good example of this fact. Dolgener and Measure Divide, the pseudonyms of these two mysterious musicians, propose eleven articulated songs, each with its own identity.
Although with a quite different song structure, songs such as Valium, Underlight and Dives, thanks to noisy distortions and abrasive vocals, enrich MDD’s formula with a certain punk attitude, adding more heaviness, hardness and a certain “rock” approach to their music. Obviously, distorted beats are a core element of each track inthe album. Submission is one of the most inspired songs of the album, being characterized by a frenetic and syncopated rhythm, enriched by AADJA’s voice, a female singer alternating cold and distant spoken word to angelic melodies. Here, her vocals and the heaviness of the rhythms work very well together.
In Reverse The Contrast there’s also place for more dancefloor-ready moments, such as Crushed, a well-crafted song which stays in the the listener’s mind thanks to its guitar riff which breaks the 4 / 4 tension giving a major depth to it. Also songs such as Grind and Second injection, thanks to their powerful and abrasive soundsand rhythms, fit well in the album, as well as the opener acts as an inspired number thanks to its metallurgic and industrial-like sounds. Still frame is a good ending song where, once again, syncopated rhythmic noise and techno beats are beautifully arranged together, and in which “exhausted” reverberated vocals add a certain abstract touch to it.
Reverse The Contrast is the umpteenth result of HANDS style of these last years. Only time will tell what MDD’s future will be like. At the moment, it doesn’t matter so much.
Label: HANDS
Rating: 7, 5