Published by Davide Pappalardo on June 24, 2017
Hailing from Netherlands, Anthro is the techno project of Bas Baarda, a newcomer to the ever growing techno industrial scene. He has already published a digital Ep called Trigger Haps (2016, licensed by Toxic Waste Buried), where he displayed his eerie, dramatic and robust kind of techno, enriched by steady rhythms and sinister noisy loops. Now, he returns with Haute Precision, an EP on vinyl published by Serbian label Genesa Records, managed by Nikola Grebovic aka Scalameriya, composed of four new tracks. Once again, he shows his love for deep bass, frantic sounds, almost tribal structures and hypnotic, IDM-ish broken rhythms, without forgetting the club appeal, delivering some really hard-hitting bangers.
The title track sets the tone perfectly: obsessive sampled and filtered vocal effects and tense syncopated rhythms are entwined with clips, screeching sounds and hints of ambient atmospheres. The result is a high-tech ride, alternating straight attacks and contracted sessions, where the sound moves in a landscape made of futuristic images. A powerful, stomping bass completes the scene, being the motif upon which the other elements are carefully layered.
Shebang storms the dancefloor with its thundering beats and sci-fi effects, a dance for machines, or a dialogue between them, if you like. Just like a factory which becomes alive, all the elements grow in a crescendo, where they are vivid. All of this retaining their cold, cybernetic nature: like circuits, they are intertwined and full of electricity, clawing their way among the textures of synths. Once again, a hypnotic rhythm guides us during the track, and old-school lines are not forfeited, showing his acknowledgment of the history of the genre.
QPO flirts with EBM bass-lines and oniric, distant synths, while abrasive sounds and blasting, cutting distorted drums take their tool in a techno maelstrom aimed to conquer the listener. The track has many souls, and by the three minutes mark, it has become a techno banger of the finest quality, full of industrial loops and waves of energy. The finale is a sort of return to the origin, with a new round of nightly sounds and shrilling effects.
False materialism ends the EP, giving us a final glimpse of the tread, made of compulsive structures, looping, stomping rhythms and evocative, yet somewhat brooding, atmospheres. Gnarly tunnels and clipped sounds are layered upon a rigorous, militant base, and a vibrant effect reminding a bell completes the picture. The ability to mix old-school techno vibes and modern experimentation is what sets apart this work from many of its peers. While not a narrow-minded beat fest, it doesn’t indulge itself in aimless wandering, always keeping in mind the enjoyability of the experience.
Straight to the point; this is a great example of modern techno which keeps the roots of the original sound, but at the same time doesn’t live outside of its time. Industrial hard hitting beats, IDM structures, ambient clips and fierce synths are some tools of the trade, subservient to the craft of tracks made to be danced to, not analyzed too deeply. This doesn’t mean no skills are at play: instead, they are greatly used with a reasoned restraint, never dooming the song to lose its direction and coherence. Gladly recommended.
Label: Genesa Records
Rating: 8