- The third record on Flexxseal, a techno label that calls itself "New Orleans/Berlin based," is a single-sided two-tracker that's similar to label founder Christopher Joseph's previous releases, and it comes from Russian techno producer Draag. I've been intrigued by the lean and fierce style he's displayed with his digital tracks (particularly this set of free cuts on Bandcamp), and he brings more solid stuff to the table with Occulted, his first vinyl release.
The title track has an industrial flavor thanks to its darkly mechanical riffs and squishy blur of cymbals and clicks. It's especially stern, though also a tad faceless. Draag uses a more distinctively freewheeling yet still focused approach with "Tumult." That one is led by rushes of sixteenth-note percussion, and layered with whiplashing synths and a creepy atmospheric pulse. All in all a record geared for nowhere else but the floor, and a fine one if you like it fast and mean.
TracklistA1 Occulted
A2 Tumult