Bleep

There isn’t a genre that embodies the intertwining dance between buildup and release more than trance does. Evian Christ has proved himself an expert of such sonic choreography in his decade-plus reign, with his prestigious TranceParty event series alongside several hyped releases for Tri Angle, and production credits ranging from Danny Brown and Kanye West to Malibu and Le1f. New music has been long awaited since Evian's Warp signing in 2015: now he makes his defining statement as an artist with his debut album Revanchist, tearing up his sound and taking trance euphoria to its extremes.

To be revanchist means to regain lost territory, but also to exact revenge. As such, Evian's musical expedition is twofold: lush, glossy atmospheres, pursued by razor sharp palettes. The teeming digital biomes upon which Revanchist stakes its claim are set ablaze, as in the full throttle opener 'On Embers'. Guttural sawtooth incisors lock into the track, its mammoth weight lifting to reveal air charged with static, a brief fantasia before the eviscerating club slams descend even harder than before.

That splitscreen combination of mysticism and heavy drive continues on 'Yxguden', with pulsating waves of "heavenly vicious ecstasy" augmented by YEAR0001 resident Bladee's glitchy, sugary vocals. Evian brandishes the themes of late 90s/early 00s dance with a particular intensity: angelic choirs situated in cathedral-sized reverberance, stuttering vocals and synth washes recalling jungles and ruins overflowing with mist, and the enigmatic footfalls of giants embedded in apocalyptic beats. In between wildfires of swerving breaks and diamond-cut piano notes, 'Nobody Else' spills with ambience. Vocals are lost in a haze, and synth melodies are dressed in shadowy yet vibrant hues, humming like ghosts wandering the halls that the heavyweight thuds resonate throughout.

Revanchist is a masterclass merging of catharsis and viscerality, crystallising the world Evian Christ has built so far.