Acrid Abeyance – The Catacomb EP

One of the very best old-school continental acid techno releases here. All four tracks feature glorious 303 brilliance, and all four offer a slightly different style/sound.

303 Delight, once it gets going (after an intro that starts minimally and slow, and then speeds up progressively), is a happy, bouncy, and quite fast bit of acid techno, and reminds me of D.A.V.E. the Drummer's work as Dr. Octopus, or maybe some early Audio Pancake. Awesome stuff. 5/5.

Crying Bassline also has a bouncy vibe, but is slower, and plods along while the acid work lashes your brain relentlessly. The 'Crying' aspect of the name is of course perfect, as the main acid line occasionally 'cries' out with an extended and wonderfully distorted note. Bad ass, perhaps my favorite track on the record. 5/5. My only semi-critical remark would be that the default speed is a little slow. But that is of course easily rectified.

Minimalistic probably stands out to most people as the 'big' track on this release, and it is indeed very good. And once again, the track is very well named, as it is a fairly stripped-down piece---a simple but effective acid riff, a steady and solid percussion scheme, and a few breakdowns here and there in which the acid gets to slither around a bit. Great stuff, though maybe not quite as killer as the first two tracks, so 4/5.

And finally, Tranquil is a great piece of lazy but still bouncy acid techno, almost acid house. Solid track, but perhaps not as good as 303 Delight or Crying Bassline. 4/5.

Get this release, simple as that. You will not be disappointed.

Dedicated to the famous german techno-club "Katakomben" in Krefeld.