anti.helium
valium dreams
if not now, tomorrow
in the hearts of all men (DJ Matt-Shogun Fear Mix)

This new demo from promising newcomers autoclav doesn't get off to a terribly auspicious start. 'anti.helium', it has to be said, plods by at a slightly pedestrian pace, and seems to have been constructed out of about eight loops which lack in variety and include an irritatingly reedy portamento synth line. Thankfully things pick up enormously with 'valium dreams'; machine-gun drum breaks scuttle along with a real sense of urgency, while sub-bass sounds swim back and forth like vast, ancient fish in some ocean trench.

'if not now, tomorrow', an ambient interlude, evokes images of cold buildings, rusting machinery and the detritus of abandoned industry, and is short enough to get away with being homogeneous without becoming dull. 'in the hearts of all men', finally, returns to the percussive industrial assault of the first two tunes, but with a definite sci-fi movie theme feel this time. In fact I defy anyone to listen to this one without thinking of cyborg assassins from the future, desperate wars between humanity and its rebellious creations, ragged bands of survivors organising last-ditch resistance from underground bunkers... And all the rest.

I'm not too sure what availability is like for this release; I suspect it's CDR-on-request, and your best bet is probably to contact Tony aka DJ Autoclav himself. Or if the last track is anything to go by, perhaps coming soon to a video game title screen near you.

ABC