In recent years I have been listening more and more to the work of German Touch guitarist Alexander Paul Dowerk, and on his latest album he is working under a band name although he provides U8 Deluxe and S8 Touch Guitars, software and hardware synths, voice, chains, metal, toys with the only additional instrumentation provided by Troy Jones who adds snare and additional kick on one number. Alexander is renowned for pushing musical boundaries by working in live composition groups such as Anchor and Burden, but here he is working in a much more layered and controlled fashion, even though the output is as boundary challenging as ever.
In some ways I am reminded of The Prodigy, but coming at techno much more from the viewpoint of a musician who is pushing what can be obtained from Touch guitars to the limit as opposed to coming at it from keyboards. It makes me think of concrete basements in huge buildings, with pipes running along the ceiling dripping water, and the feeling of presence and of tension deep inside the being. It is not a pleasant place to be, but there is something about the beat which makes the body jerk, uncontrolled, as a hidden puppet master sets the direction. There is a lack of control of the individual, and soon the mass of bodies becomes as one, with the strobes making everything black and white, punishing and everywhere all at once. This is not easy music to listen to as it keeps hitting the brain, relentless in its approach. I don’t even enjoy this style of music, but there is something about this which makes me keep wanting to turn it up a little bit more, even if costs me my sanity. This is techno and metal being combined by a master musician into something challenging which has nothing in common with what I generally expect from him, but the more I listen to this the more I think it is a logical progression. Not for the fainthearted.
Rating: 8/10