Sterac – Asphyx

Can someone relate about the sound quality compared to the recent repress? As I find the sound level a bit low on the Delsin one.

What a great release this is. For me Pacifia is the one. A nice driving drum pattern, melodic bassline and that haunting synth riff with the chord change that gets my spine tingling every time. Lovely.
(Incidentally for such an uplifting track, I always thought 'Darkness in My Life' wasn't a very apt title, and on reading Alain Patrick's review, I realise that it wasn't the title of it after all! Pacifia is far more appropriate!)

One of the best detroit techno track in my opinion. simplicity at its best.

The A side of this EP (or what should be the B side due to the sides being pressed opposite each other) is extremely phenomenal still after 10 years.

Asphyx absolutely demands the entire attention of the dance floor and has the ability to command an entire room to stop everything happening and listen in to the sound blasting around them. The track is versatile enough to open and close sets as well as restore the atosphere of any venue size. The louder you play it, the more it dominates. The dueling channels panning around the dancefloor and the superb yet simple bassline and percussion generate unprecedented sound. For 1995 Asphyx sounds remarkably fresh and innovative still.

But while this EP is mostly known for Asphyx, Darkness In My Life can hold its own quite well also. But most people will go straight to Asphyx if they own this record, and for good reason.

Steve Rachmad's major classic was released by the conceptual dutch label 100% Pure in 1995. “Asphyx” infested the dance floors all over the World with magnificent timbers and an unique atmosphere, but the most curious aspect about this tune was never told to the big public: “First of all, the label was pressed wrong on that record, and the A side became B, and vice versa; so the title of the track you talk about is not actually “Asphyx” but “X-tracks”! Nobody knows this, unfortunately. I guess this is the chance to get it right”, confessed Sterac, with a smile in his face. “In this track, I panned one sound to the left, and the other one to the right, so this gave a nice stereo effect; it seems like the sounds are crossing, and that’s why “X-tracks” was just a perfect name for it. I still feel sorry that the real title was not linked to the right track, as the title in itself already says a lot about that track”, said again the dutch talent.