Rituals EP

After a short hiatus, Combat is back and kicks off 2014 with a fierce new EP that introduces a new artist to the label, with a powerful collaboration from Ingen and Boris Noiz.

Scotland-based Ingen has been on th techno radar for quite a while now, building up an impressive discography that runs from complex poly-rhythms and soundscapes, crossing over to the darker side of techno, released via labels such as Them London, Darkfloor Sound, Noodles, Nerve recordings, Digital Distortions, Wired Room and Tribal Waves, including remixes for Si Begg, Temper D and Dirty Servant.

Rising Serbian producer Boris Noiz has been a stalwart of the Combat label for some years, and has an impressive string of releases via Yellow Machines, Lost in the Sound, Rottun, Bankai Audio, Syndetic, Subtrakt and Dub'n'Breaks. He's also half of the notorious Ontal duo, whose extreme dark/noise infused industrial techno has seen much support from Surgeon, AnD, Stormfield and Darkfloor. Boris is one who "confounds the notion that artists should stick to one idea or concept, having a seemingly clear vision on what he thinks the future should sound like. Connecting the dots between the past and present and paying deserved respect to the people who got us where we are today." - Darkfloor

Arriving at the Combat sound from the opposite ends of techno and old skool hardcore, this fierce EP combines the strengths of the two disciplines, fusing the former's state-of-the-art mechanical rhythms with the latter's hardcore whiplash breakbeats, gluing it all together with precise noise distortion and searing acid lines.

The result is deadly: From the jacking, stumbling techno of "Rituals", the interplay between precision noise blasts and thunderous bassdrums on "Symbols", to the arching 3/4 time acid lines of "Root and Stem" and the Sci-fi cannon gunfire drumwork of "Spikes" - The whole EP runs deep, dark and immersive with mechanoid rhythms. Insistent, primal and yet precise - a dystopian and ritualistic sound that resonates within blacked-out warehouses and fortified bass bunkers set in the future, as society disintegrates and civilisation falls apart outside it's walls.

As if that wasn't enough, darkside champions Fausten bring a bleak yet frenetic sci-fi slant to their remix of Root and Stem, mangling the original and rebuilding it with extra acid lines, mutant howling and apocalyptic atmospheres, tied together with intricate sound design. Soundtrack for flying over exploding cities.

One for fans of Rag & Bone Records, Surgeon, AnD, Ontal and Dadub.