“Two years ago, everywhere you went: ‘garage, garage, hardcore’s dead, jungle’s dead, it’s all dead, it’s all dead’… Jungle forever…” Crucial repress of the second EP from Ilian Tape’s Ilian Skee series; pound-for-pound maybe the heaviest Skee Mask piece to date. A1 cut “Inti” is a divine piece of polyrhythmic techno very much in the vein of Shred, followed by “Kappelberg Chant” which sets off in breakier territory. “Routine” is the shooting star here, with luscious Logical Progression-grade pads underpinning Herr Mask’s expertly-sliced breaks to stunning effect (hit the audio samples, hearing is believing!). The breakneck drum & bass rollage of “Skreet Lvl Dub” foreshadows the 160bpm tearouts he’d explore further on Compro, draped in airy dub textures and vaporous synth cascades. Highly recommended.

• black vinyl pressing
• 2019 repress
• music label: Ilian Tape 2017

reviewed by winston wolf 03/2019