X-103 – Thera EP

probably the most brutal jeff mills release, curse of the gods and eruption will blow your mind

im not much for Mill's full bore bangers of this era or his polished space travel techno of today, but The Gardens is an absolute gem which surprises and reminds one of Jeffs range. See also the H&M Drama EP for different flavors from him

Always have been surprised why this record is not fetching £50~£80 nowadays, it was raw, experimental and gritty and rare !
For me almost like early Gabber as 3 years later distorted 909 was very common (ref Curse of the Gods with is a fantastic track)

Pay no attention to Flash-Records under here who calls the B3 "brutal" as if that was something negative. Record iz BRUTAL!! Well worth the 8 pounds I gave just for A1, and I bought it for the entire thing.

Considering this was released in 1993, the heaviness and filtered invention of the two hard tracks (B1 and B3) comes across as examplary. The experiments in filtering and banging kik drums follow on from Mills' classic 'Waveforms Transmission vol. 1', and both these records were influential and pivotal moments to many producers, especially on mainland Europe.
Both Mills and Hood had already produced a brace of heavy industrial tunes on UR and Hardwax; to anyone familiar with their back catalog, the tunes on here continue their (successful) attempts to keep progressing and moving the sound forwards.
As for 'Magma', what a tune! Throughout the record, the concepts that the music communicates lead Mills and Hood to compose in particular ways, in the rhythms, melodies, and harmonic structures. As such they continue the process started with Underground Resistance of getting messages across not only in the sounds, but in how these are related to the track titles and label art etc. As the catalog built up, the different approaches to how resistance manifests and how tones can make this visible inspired a lot of people. And looking further back continued a lineage including such artists as Sun Ra and Kraftwerk. The music always has more to it than mere entertainment. For adventurous DJs and dreamers, techno music remains the most open palette of possibilities and potentials, not confined to genre conventions no matter how many lazy individuals and cultural forces intervene to try and close the door.
An incredible record in my opinion, varied and skillfully produced. And sounding just great through a sound system...

This ep tells the tragic fate of the island of Thera. A huge volcanic eruption (the Minoan eruption, source of the legend of Atlantis) devastated the place around 1600 BC.
It starts with "The Gardens", a peaceful elegant and sophisticated acidic techno track; then we have the feeling that something menacing is coming with the obscure, disturbing and experimental "Magma". "Curse Of The Gods" confirms it with its oppressive atmosphere illustrated by a very heavy/distorted bass drum and a relentless hypnotic construction. Then comes a sweet & melancholic piece of ambient "Thera", the calm before the storm...or rather the "Eruption"!!! A Dark, caustic, industrial, powerful and devastating final part.
There are no spaces limiter between the tracks. I don't think that you have to buy this vinyl only for one track or an other...
This ep has something unique and after two decades it still sounds strangely awesome...In my opinion, a true masterpiece.

B3 - Eruption rulez all the e.p. from the ground up.
You can buy this release just for the B3 track and you win one of the best techno industrial track ever made before...

This ep, on the whole, is pretty bad considering it is the combined efforts of 2 techno legends: Robert Hood and Jeff Mills. The harder tracks on the ep are particularly poor. However, the track "The Gardens" makes this ep well worth buying. This track switches back and forth from a dark, hypnotic hook to a more epic instrumental part. This track would be a great set finisher.

In short, this ep doesnt live up to the names of Mills and Hood but it is still worth buying as the first track is very good.

The A side of this record brings us an downtempo housy techno track. I don't like it very much. But the B side is excellent. Two very hard experimental pounders, divided by a nice piece of ambient. Absolutely progressive for the early nineties.