Bleep

Bristolian duo Emptyset export their algorhythmic sound art to revered experimental electronic music stalwart, Raster-Noton for the sixth release of their unun series. Appropriately-titled, ‘Collapsed’ reveals four new tracks and their music at its most crushing. Whilst 2011’s 'Demiurge' indulged us with a more measured, calculated mood, ‘Collapsed’ fits the label's dogma of aligning equal amounts of exploration with equal amounts of groove. Opening track ‘armature’ grades white-noise against a slow, unyielding grind evoking the mood of patriarchs Coil or Throbbing Gristle. Pushing further, the punishing scrape of ‘core’ boasts a rhythmic twist before the two most inhospitable moments ‘collapse’ and ‘wire’ shape into an immalleable coda. The results are stark, abrasive and sonically brutal – ‘Collapsed’ is a cohesive collection that cannot resist pushing the eardrums to extreme limits.