Berlin techno vet Ellen Allien comes back with her seventh LP, released via her BPitch Control imprint (Ben Klock, Paul Kalkbrenner and loads more). The nine tracks on Nost are serious, robust techno of the highest order. Bar the shapeshifting closer ‘Erdmond’, every cut here sets out with one intent - maximum dancefloor impact. The method through which this is achieved varies slightly from one entry to the next, with elements of 90s rave and jacking house on ‘Jack My Ass’, acid on ‘Stormy Memories’, and shades of hardcore in ‘mma’s maniacal synths. But no matter what tools Allien uses to get there, the result is always the same - dead-eyed, hard-as-nails club traxx par excellence.