Troy Gunner - EMF005

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  • I've long associated Bristol's Troy Gunner with Indigo, whose path from drum & bass to steel-plated UK garage, techno and back again seems to have been an influence. The last time I checked in with Gunner he was making wobbly dub techno for Infinite Machine. His latest record, landing on Indigo and Synkro's Electro Magnetic Fields, sucks out the air and warmth for four tracks of claustrophobic, jungle-influenced techno. Hovering around 125 BPM, the record shares some things in common with Akkord (Indigo's other project). Its tension and excitement comes from the way volatile elements are forced into a stiff techno structure. "Pheromone" illustrates this method, rocking a tight framework with brooding basslines and sudden drum breaks. "Atlas" has low-end screeches that hit like bursts of pent-up energy, while the 130 BPM "Manifest" trips over itself, coughing melodies in viscous gobs of synth. Only "Backstab" breaks Gunner's percussive attack, bundling the drums into a dubstep stagger that lands with a real wallop. Technically impressive as the EP is, Gunner comes off a little too clinical, as if he were cribbing notes from his mentors without making them sound like his own. As a result, EMF005 makes him out to be a star pupil rather than a leader.
  • Tracklist
      01. Atlas 02. Pheromone 03. Manifest 04. Backstab
RA