Review: More than most techno producers, Mike Storm is attuned to working in the album format, and his series of releases for Axis is testament to this expertise. Storm's latest long player, issued on Ben Sims' Symbolism imprint, picks up where the body of work for Axis left off; it includes atmospheric pieces such as "Into The New Light" and tribal workouts like "Biological Activity" and "1977 Days" that would sound at home on Jeff Mills' Something in the Sky imprint. Storm also showcases his harder edge here, and the spiky, metallic drums of "No Human World" and the dense, hammering rhythm on "Exo 1606" provide reminders of why techno luminaries like Sims and Mills hold him in such high regard.
Review: Mike Storm traces his roots back to the 90s club scene, and this background is audible on his debut release for Oscar Mulero's Warm Up. "Any Strong Way" is a relentless percussive techno track that resounds to ferocious hi hats and visceral kicks, while on "Into A Human Mind", Storm goes for a more subtle approach, with a hypnotic, bleep-laden Sahko-style groove. On "Power Distance", he channels the influence of dub techno to create an understated, throbbing groove, while "Constant Battle", sees him pick up the pace to conjure up a mesmerising combination of solid kicks and eerie textures.
Review: According to the blurb that accompanies this sixth edition of Andrea Belluzzi's label, this release is meant to 'let loose the dark black wings'. This may be something of an overstatement, and in the case of "B1-006", the contribution from the imprint's owner, slight inaccurate, as hypnotic tribal beats provide the basis for atmospheric chords. The pace and intensity picks up on Ken Karter's "B2-006", where Sleeparchive-like bleeps unfold over a similar pumping rhythm, but the other two tracks do fit that rather dramatic description. On both Mike Storm and Transient X4's tracks, acid bleeps rain down like lava globules, burning their way through the steely rhythmic framework on impact.
Review: It sounds like Storm immersed himself in classic techno before writing and recording Communication. The title track is reminiscent of the best bits from Sleeparchive's catalogue; insistent, austere bleeps are delivered over a hypnotic, pulsing groove and Storm fires a broadside of metallic percussion that glistens like metal-plated sleet in the wind. The 'Re-Work' features the kind of doubled up claps one often finds on Function's work, coupled with the droning sensibilities of Prologue's catalogue. Finally, 'Designed to Locate' has echoes of classic Millsian techno as searing metallic rhythms and an insistent tempo provide a basis for eerie, intergalactic synths to shoot into orbit.
