Veröffentlicht
Mar 18, 2019
- High-energy techno.
- Just like his gloomy black and white press shots, Kobosil's productions are mean. You can hear EBM's growl in many of the Berliner's tracks, which have become so heavy that they are now only suitable for a party's rowdiest moments. That trend continues on RK4, his first release in two years. Packing four mammoth tunes, it reflects the sound of the modern techno scene Kobosil has helped shape: hard, fast and aggressive.
"Emil," which opens the new record, is a new version of a track from Kobosil's first EP, RK3. The original "Emil" was deep and mysterious, little more than a gurgling acid line and subdued kick. The hammering percussion added to the new "Emil" seems made for the massive stages Kobosil now regularly spins from, turning what was once a meditative workout into a tool that feels less nuanced. "80 KG Hate"—Kobosil's bodyweight?—and "Born In 1968" are similarly slamming tangles of bleeps and distorted vocals that combine in two intense techno tools. Only "Khashan" has anything close to the depth of Kobosil's earliest productions, albeit at around 140 BPM. In revisiting that first EP, RK4 reminds us where Kobosil came from. By making it only about the dance floor, it loses the oddball charm that made his early records unique.
TracklistA1 Emil
A2 80 KG Hate
B1 Born In 1968
B2 Khashan