The shadowy German producer’s latest release on Delsin adds more silky dub-techno to his stellar catalogue without really advancing it.
Ten years ago (and to a lesser extent, now), a DJ’s powers were defined by their possession of highly sought after track IDs. Now it’s vinyl spinning aficionados like DJ Masda leading the way, but if you logged into Facebook ten years ago and were part of the famed IOM (Identification of Music) group then you’d be hit with a wave of low-res video recordings of some ethereal breakbeat alongside a recurring comment, identifying said track as ‘unreleased BICEP’.
People would go mad, generating a frenzied anticipation for the release (if it were to ever come). Withholding music in this way gives artists a sense of control and maintains a sense of intrigue about what else they could be hiding in their back catalogue. Especially if the music holds a mysterious edge to it, as German dub-techno artist Vril’s does. Since appearing in 2010, the Hamburg native has built a solid reputation in the underground community for his distinctive production style and hardware live sets.
Listening back to past recordings you see a comment section flooded with desperate requests for track IDs (including in our September Mix Archive from the man himself). Some of these gems have since been handed over to the public, some are still locked away in an Ableton live file. And there’s a definite sense of self-gratification for listeners, listening through a 12 track LP from an artist you have great respect for and recognising a tune which you heard them play eight years earlier at a festival somewhere in the European countryside; but it is that circularity which this corner of the underground music spectrum rewards listeners for.
On his fifth release with legendary Delsin, we hear some more of these once mysterious tracks enter the realm of public ownership for the first time. KRUX is now the fourth full length release from Vril on the Dutch label, following LPs Animist, Anima Mundi and Portal. Stylistically it makes sense, as the longstanding European techno stalwarts continue to fly the flag for some of the continent’s most consistent producers. KRUX is an album that seems to operate on a fairly straightforward and directive rule; exploring the intersection of his own influences, but bringing it all back to the central theme of dub-techno.
To do so, he taps up big names like Rene Wise, Verraco and Aurora Halal for collaborative tracks like Wave Collapse, Zunkunft von Gestern and Rüyam. These intriguing link ups feel somewhat redundant, as the influence of the collaborator doesn’t really come through, and instead feels as if the artist in question is simply doing their best Vril impression. This is not to say each doesn’t have its own merit as a dub-techno track, but in an album which seems forged together by an idea of exploring creative intersections, it feels like a bit of a sonic mismatch to the context.
As a body of work it stands up next to other Vril releases as being worthy of his own impressively consistent catalogue. Tracks like Signum Ex Auro, In The Noise We Found A Signal and Grim Trajectory all move with the sort of climatic allure which would sound suitable to the ending of any Vril live set. It’s plentiful of ideas, even if certain tracks are making up numbers; in another producer’s EP, they might be looked upon more favourably. But given the lofty standards that Vril has set himself, they are brittle in comparison to the more emotionally deft tracks on KRUX. Still; it’s another intriguing addition to the catalogue of an artist who still continues to carve out a unique voice in the dub-techno scene.
