"Where Delsin staples of the Vril output tend to be exercises in ultra-slow, metronomic 4/4 techno, 'Saturn Is A Supercomputer' has a more broken, breakbeat style, think 'Anima Mundi' with an Ilian Tape leaning."
Already armed with a discography that would leave any producer either weak at the knees or green with envy, Vril turns his gaze across the Atlantic and into deep space with his sixth solo album.
‘Saturn Is A Supercomputer‘ represents a departure from his previous work in more ways than one. Not only does the German producer break his run of releases on European imprints such as Giegling, Delsin and Bad Manners by turning to Danny Daze’s Miami-based Omnidisc label, there’s also a subtle yet noteworthy shift in tone.
Where Delsin staples of the Vril output tend to be exercises in ultra-slow, metronomic 4/4 techno, ‘Saturn Is A Supercomputer‘ has a more broken, breakbeat style, think ‘Anima Mundi‘ with an Ilian Tape leaning. There’s still a heavy emphasis on those rasping synths sawing away at your heartstrings and a universe of epic soundscapes to get lost in, but with slightly more uptempo rhythms that’ll suit strobe-licked summer woodlands, as well as your bedroom with the lights off.
Opener ‘The Secret Teaching Of All Times‘ kicks us off in typical Vril style – brooding chord progressions and layers of synths setting up an ambient atmosphere that seethes with tension, a tension that only builds in the opening of ‘Batumi Standing‘ as we find a landscape awash with tape hiss and skittering hats. Then, we get our first percussion lines of the album and huge reverberating pads, a lush, drifting, soundscape, the motion of the album settling into stately progress and that opening pressure only building.
The title track drops, and that tension is blown into atomic particles by a swirling solar storm of electro rhythms, stabbing chords and aching vocal samples that sound like Frankie Goes to Hollywood if they’d been formed in Detroit.
As we segue into ‘Sohn (SP12 Rework)‘ we find organic drum sampling, almost DJ Shadow-esque, but replete with those essential drifting pads and chords that give the percussion so much space to work on, a dark low end adding a touch of menace to the serenely weightless atmosphere.
After an ambient repose with ‘Their Sign Of Weakness‘, we find a guest appearance from Vancouver-based ZDBT, joining Vril on ‘Habit Forming‘, a kind of melodic workout complete with ringing mids and a breathless, broken rhythm.
This is closely followed by the immensely proportioned ‘Final Earthbound‘, a warped Terrence McKenna orating over splintered kaleidoscopic beats and deep kicks that lead into crunching hats. Some welcome psychedelic philosophy cut with deep, delicately layered techno; who can turn that down?
‘Truth Out The Cave‘ provides us with perhaps the most irresistible groove on the album, as a wash of tape hiss and scuffing hats are undercut with a metronomic kick and a darkly swaying low end. Here, Vril shows off his mastery at producing addictively hypnotic rhythms with a few elements. Tricks like cutting the bass for a bar before dropping it back in are simple, and in the wrong hands overdone and tiresome, yet here they sing subtly and seductively.
The two minute ‘Zivtem Im Lab‘ is a workout in machine bashing, a broken and fragmented mess of twisted transistors and screaming synths, but still somehow with a structure that prevents it running away completely. After this sonic assault, Vril gently immerses us back into the warm embrace of deep space on ‘Pneuma‘, all sighing chords and distant, blinking signals, a real drifter this one, with percussion just teasing away in the latter half of the track.
‘Missin‘ returns to the more glitchy end of the aesthetic, before we close with ‘Ataraxia‘, another two minutes of ambient ecstasy, simple chord progressions drowned in reverb and topped with swooping, sharp synth lines. It’s the soft light at the end of the pitch black wormhole Vril has mined through the heart of deep space, and a blissful end to an album that shows once again, there are few who can match Vril’s ability for building sonic architecture shot through with eminently moveable grooves in today’s scene.
‘Saturn Is A Supercomputer’ is out now via Omnidisc. Buy a vinyl copy form Inverted Audio Record Store and digital from Bandcamp.
TRACKLIST
1. The Secret Teaching Of All Times
2. Batumi Stranding
3. Saturn Is A Supercomputer
4. Sohn (SP12 Rework)
5. Their Sign Of Weakness
6. Habit Forming (Feat. ZDBT)
7. Final Earthbound
8. Truth Out The Cave
9. Zivten Im Lab
10. Pneuma
11. Missin
12. Ataraxia