- "Unified Theory" feels like a good title for this trilogy of EPs from Belgium's Mumbai Science. The young duo is clearly bent upon bringing together a whole mess of styles, in sometimes messy fashion. Part one focused on grinding, overdriven techno displaying an obvious EBM influence, with the synths pushed loud in the mix and the computer vox stuttering like a particularly excited Max Headroom. But part two smooths the rough edges and takes things considerably deeper. There's plenty of force behind "Reality," the clear standout here: you can feel it in the insistent 8th-note snare rolls, in the pitch-shifting pings, and particularly in the percussive bass lead, as splotchy as a particularly colorful bruise. (Peverelist's "Dance Til the Police Come" seems to have been an obvious inspiration.) But the way they draw out the tension gives the track an almost sensual vibe. For all the heaviness, it practically levitates. "Transcendence" is more earth-bound: digging its heels into squelchy arpeggios, trancey leads and a stock voiceover sampled from a meditation LP, it sounds a little like a slowed-down update to Harthouse's mid-'90s sound. It may be more pedestrian than the soaring "Reality," but the drum programming nevertheless shows that they know their way around a breakneck groove.
Tracklist 01. Reality
02. Transcendence