L A M* ‎– Balance Of Terror EP

Amazing early Drexciya record on Robert Hood's legendary Hardwax imprint. Although the Clone reissue is well worth having for the extra track, I think the original Hardwax NSC pressing better suits the sound.

This is one of the earliest records released by the Drexciya duo; the only one under the Life After Mutation alias. It was first released back in '92.

Their sound was much more agressive and energetic back then, compared to their later work under the Drexciya name. The re-release on Clone features an extra track.

I just love the contrast in styles they have produced over the years. This record obviously is the hardest of them all, it is an absolute must have for all Drexciya fans worldwide.

A must-have for any Drexciya collector. The tracks burst with anger and aggression, and the titles give clues as to where the aggression stems from.

By the way the drums are used, you'll immediately recognize this EP as forerunner of Drexciya tracks like "Darthouven Fish Men" and "Devil Ray Cove" and the Japanese Telecom smasher "Kubi".

None of those quite reach the level of fury exposed on "Balance Of Terror", however. And while the EP is as "hard" as electronic music can ever get, it never never resembles the lifeless, ever so cool machine pounding of more reknown "hard" acts like Surgeon, Sonar, or Scorn, but it's very humanely emotional, and there's even a spark of humour (if sarcastical) in the tracks. Never forget that this contrasting quality was a huge part of what made Drexciya so special.

There are two versions: the rarer original edition has a silver label with track titles, and the still available re-issue has a golden label without titles. The music is the same on both; I couldn't hear a difference in sound quality, either.