Orphx
Theikos
KR3
Techno and industrial have been musical bedfellows for close to forty years at this point, and during that time few acts have achieved the level of credibility in both scenes as Ontario stalwarts Orphx. The music of duo Christina Sealey and Rich Oddie has always embodied the noisy experimentalism at the heart of each genre, and in the more than three decades they’ve been releasing music they’ve carved themselves a reputation that had them as a key act on foundational rhythmic noise label Hands Productions, tastemaker techno imprint Sonic Groove, and on bills with acts as diverse as Surgeon, Speedy J, Front Line Assembly and Iszoloscope.
New EP Theikos serves as something of a primer for them, encapsulating the variety of sounds and approaches that have informed Orphx’s heavy, ominous clamour. As noted in the Bandcamp liners, the title track was original conceived in 1998 and eventually completed just last year, although it would be hard to pinpoint that in listening; the thick, undulating bass groan and shredded metallic percussion that form a crushingly menacing groove is the kind of song that Orphx have always excelled at since their earliest tapes. Similarly, the way follow-up track “Intercession” foregoes a standard dance music arrangement is very characteristic form them, instead placing its kicks at odd intervals and allowing its layers of synthetic beeps, short blasts of processed static and unintelligible vocal samples.
Interestingly the release also features some retakes of older songs made over in intriguing fashion: “First Light (Remix)” takes the 12″ original from 2009 and pulls apart the pressurized rhythm and noise programming of the original to allow more space in and around its drum hits, giving the song a far more haunting, if no less uneasy mood. Alternately, “Undying (NS Version)” crushes the wiry, articulated synthwork of the original into a dubby, distorted slowboil, all its various sounds eventually merging into one ascending tone before disappearing into the blackness.
Orphx are basically in the victory lap era of their career at this point, and as with much of their contemporary catalogue Theikos is a comment of sorts on the band’s own work, revisiting, revising and reinventing, without ever settling in one pocket for too long. If you’ve never spent much time with them, it should give you a fair idea of their depth and power, while initiates will find those same strengths presented in ways both familiar and new.
