Abstract Division At Juno Download

Review: It sounds like Abstract Division is interested in the darker side of electronic music. This becomes clear on "Shifted Reality", where noisy, jarring riffs are fused with wiry percussion to create a more intense take on droning techno. Milton Bradley's take on "Reality" favours the panning, pumping approach, but his remix is also full of eerie string sequences and stands out thanks to its muddy, murky riffs. Dasha Rush pushes "Reality" to the edge of dance floor techno with reverberated broken beats competing with stomping bass drums. But even this cannot compete with "Fluctuations", where what sounds like a witch scratching her nails to be heard over chilling chords make for a truly scary soundtrack.

Review: The second instalment of Form provides accurate snapshots from contemporary techno sounds and styles. In its original format, "Floating Point" is an austere, bleepy Sleeparchive-style groove, its sonic blips lent additional weight thanks to snappy, Klock-style percussion. Dutch producer Delta Funktionen brings a dubby approach on his rework, fusing it with a tunnelling, hypnotic riff, for a darker sound than is his wont, while "Magnetic Field" is a dark, industrial-tinged sound scape. There is also a look to the past as Ben Sims drops an acid-coated, loop techno take on "Shifted Reality" - but in the main this second volume is a forward-facing collection.

Review: It's hard to imagine how any producer would countenance taking on "Deformation". Apart from the scraping metallic riffs at its centre, the original track is powered by a bass so oppressive and pummelling that it makes the drums sound tinny by comparison. Despite this, Dynamic Reflection has chosen the remixers well; Mike Parker shoehorns his trademark bleepy sound into a skipping rhythm, while Norman Nodge focuses on sparse, rolling drums and understated droning bass on his treatment. But it's Area Forty One who offers the most radical interpretation. As the dreamy chords provide a feather-soft backdrop, only the occasional burst of spiky percussion reminds the listener of the original's intensity.

Review: Hard techno's Germanic beginnings may have given the genre it's unforgivingly industrial edge, but it soon spread across the globe faster than a HAARP electrical storm. Stepping up to the mantle with the likes of Presk and Blawan, Abstract Division have built a monolithic slab of near-impenetrable beats from their home in the Netherlands. It's as challenging as it is beguiling; the minimal sounds of "Collision" break through the colossal build and washed-out claps of "Comprehend", pulsing like the techno nights worth remembering. When the house revival begins to crumble, you know where we'll be.