This monster double album is dominated by heavily oscillating synths and motorik beats with an overtly Germanic, robotic slant reminiscent of DAF grind relentlessly, and with cumulative effect. Hectic jittery beats are filtered and phased, the title track a skittery scuttle of interloping synth doodles. The use of extreme stereo and wow and flutter only adds to the creeping nausea of the woozy sounds. It’s perhaps to be expected: Cavern of Anti-Matter is the latest project from Strereolab guitarist Tim Gane.
These intense blasts of aural discoordination are interspersed with rolling organs and cinematic synths. There are plenty of Kraftwerkian workouts too, as well as Jan Hammery ‘driving’ tunes such as ‘sound-magic’s Death Ray Destroys the Vortex and Has Union with Infinity.’ Things step up another notch with the throbbing ‘Adventures in One Octave’ and the space surf-pop of ‘Movin’ On Static’ is enough to send even the most level-headed into a spin.
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‘Dystopian Shopping Mall’ deserves a mention for having an ace title, although the gothy ‘Strawberry Dust’ sounds more like it could feature in a soundtrack to a film version of JG Ballard’s ‘High Rise’, and the claustrophobic ‘Acid Death Picnic’ cranks up the tension nicely as side D powers toward the album’s conclusion via the bouncy pop of Kool Boy Narcosis’ and the trippy ‘Lament For Cement’.
Far-out, whappy, intense and exploratory, ‘Blood Drums’ also shows that Cavern of Anti-Matter know how to groove. The retro-future has arrived.
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