Hugo Dirac
Veil
self-released
As we noted some time ago, Mortal Kombat is a useful descriptor for a certain flavour of techno, one that splits the difference between hyped up 90’s electronica and EBM as embodied in The Immortals (aka Praga Khan and Oliver of Lords of Acid)’ classic “Tekno Syndrome”. Whether Düsseldorf producer Hugo Dirac had that sound in mind when producing the Veil EP is questionable, but the three tracks and remix certainly fit the bill. Opener “Lament” makes excellent use of whirring mechanical samples as rhythmic elements, its modulating filtered bassline and squelchy synths feeling especially liquid next to its meaty kicks and snare hits. “Mirage” leans a bit further towards EBM via its use of vocal samples, and some funky and fluid percussion programming, hissy white noise snares and cymbals giving the right touch of menace against the tweaky lead sound. The title track and its remix by Alen Skanner bring out some of the new beat flavour in the style, the jumped up, strobing bass programming and organic cowbells overlaid with a particularly old school dark pad sound, just a touch of camp to offset the song’s rhythmic muscle. Previously released on the new defunct Sharped Records in 2025, those who crave this particularly satisfying dancefloor ready sound can now pick it up in its entirety via Dirac’s own Bandcamp.
L A N D S R A A D & Psychic Hood
Codex Of Sand
self-released
Dungeon synth and dark ambient are genres which overlap a good portion of the time, but lord knows that both enjoy a good running thematic. However, in that regard, when it comes to music inspired by Frank Herbert’s immortal Dune series, both were handily beaten to the punch by decades in the form of records by Bernard Szajner and one of the undisputed gods of the Berlin School of synthesis, Klaus Schulze. In short, there’s nothing new under the Arrakian sun Canopus, and while this split EP from L A N D S R A A D and Psychic Hood bears some connection to those more modern genres, it’s through a Schulze-esque style of composition that both one-man acts pay tribute to the grand sweep of science fiction epics (full disclosure, it’s more Warhammer 40K than Dune in Pyschic Hood’s case). L A N D S R A A D’s yen for minimalist instrumentation but deeply considered arrangement has made for repeat listening around the ID:UD HQ for the past couple of years; the processional pads of “Iday Alakrab” slowly lift each other a step further above a shimmering horizon before fading into an amber Vangelis haze, while the contrast between “Aynayn Darratfi Hamman”‘s slow harmonic progressions and its twinkling arpeggios brings the earliest Enya material to mind. In contrast, the lo-fi gothic organs and tolling synth bells of Psychic Hood’s “The First Orakle” read as closer to traditional dungeon synth, albeit one with a much more openly kosmische and astral sound than the subterranean stygian moods associated with the style.
