Bleep

InDreams, the debut LP from Vancouver duo Minimal Violence, has a manifesto scrawled on its front cover; ‘the body is meat, the mind is unlimited’. Initially, this seems to be an incongruous choice for a band with such a visceral, uncompromising and bodily sound. However, you soon realise that this is part of the point - you put InDreams on, submit to its power, and emerge with a whole new perspective on things.

Anyone who’s heard any of the previous EPs released by Minimal Violence will have an idea of what’s in store on InDreams. However, even by Minimal Violence’s standard this record contains some of the darkest, most intimidating power electronics that the pair of Ashlee Lúk and Lida P have ever produced. Pretty much every hardcore electronic style is brought into play across the album. Drum machines bludgeon you with EBM, breakbeat, gabber or electro rhythms at any opportunity; the synth work oscillates between roaring hard-tech synths and the icy tones of minimal wave; acid basslines occasionally worm their way to the front of the speakers. Just when you think things couldn’t get any more intense, InDreams hits you with a remix from Cardopusher and the ‘MV Powermoves Megamix’ in its home stretch.

This record is a punishing listen, one that’ll have you catching your breath at the end of it all. However, there are few LPs we’ve heard recently that are as arresting as Minimal Violence’s InDreams.