Published by Davide Pappalardo on March 3, 2018
Veleno Viola is the spiritual successor to Violet Poison Recordings, a new venture by Violet Poison (Francesco Baudazzi) aiming to DIY and post-punk, industrial driven approaches toward techno music. Here he has published works like his own EP Absence Generator, Konkurs Burning Images or Bellatrix? Discordia, where EBM, acid, techno and industrial are fused together in old-school, but at the same time modern, sound. It’s not by chance that the new EP by the ever prolific Unhuman (Manos Simotas, see our interviw with him here) Alpha Omega found his home in Baudazzi’s label: you will find the same spirit of the aforementioned mini albums. mixing EBM, synth punk, and acid electronics in an engaging sound.
The Ep starts with the title track and its brooding, dooming atmosphere made of majestic synth sounds and steady, crawkling, rhythms. A creeping crescendo is the result of added elements, and an enthralling groove dominates the track, moving among its dark soundscapes completed by sampled vocals and obsessive loops. Life decay chooses an old-school approach, using affirmative bass-lines and marching drum-patterns. A lysergic and at the same time disquieting atmosphere is the flesh of a bone structure made of EBM rhythms and techno pulsations. The track knows a remix by Charles Manier, a remixer who has previously worked with Factory Floor, Sideways, and many others; here it becomes an episode centered on broken rhythms, “cosmic” sounds and hidden glimpses of melody.
Coag is a hard, hitting affair made of dramatic, mechanical effects, noisy soundscapes, and factory-like drum machines. Once again an acid, energetic, but dark atmosphere saturates the track, giving fat to the EBM/techno inspired structure. The last track is by Aktion Mutante, the side project by Unhuman and Violet Poison himself (you can read our review of their self-titled EP here): Amabaile castagneto (Lovely chestnut groves in Italian) is a bass-line-driven synth-punk/EBM track with effected vocals and abrasive beats. The result is a rhythmic number with a militant vibe, aimed to dancefloor as much as the personal listening experience.
This time Unhuman forfeits noise and strictly industrial sounds in favor of EBM/techno structures with acid qualities and engaging synth-patterns, following the path of Veleno Viola in an enthralling and highly addictive work where the spirit of oldschool EBM and “post-punk electronics” is updated for modern times. Another great work in a year which started grandly and promises to follow suit with many interesting releases: for sure Unhuman confirms himself as one of the names to follow.
Label: Veleno Viola
Rating: 7,5