- Moody tracks on one of electro's top labels.
- From The Dark Volume 3 is the last in a series of compilations released by Cultivated Electronics in quick succession. Its previous instalments featured associates like Maelstrom, Jensen Interceptor and The Exaltics, as well as label boss Phil Bolland's Sync 24 project. The London-based outlet has released electro for over a decade, and From The Dark offers a refreshingly moody take on the style.
Elon's new Joonam side project with Nima Khalilian appears on Volume 3 with "Prada Thunder Cuns," where heavily distorted sub-bass overwhelms a decaying modular sequence. It's the only track featuring vocals, but instead of the deadpan delivery you'd expect from an electro track, it's a sample that has been scraped, scratched and faded into until it's indecipherable. Nomadic's "Phonologic" is the compilation's most bipolar track, where moody metallic pads meet energetic claps and clipped computer-game synths. The more hyperactive but still brooding prowls of Alpha 606, Morphology and Carl Finlow appear alongside newcomers like Calderin, Animistic Beliefs and Donor's recently christened SC-164 electro project. These tracks are noisy takes on what can be a fairly rigid genre, probably selected for their dark and dangerous sensibilities. From The Dark Volume 3 has veterans and emerging talent presenting a mixture of sounds without sacrificing electro's momentum. The sounds gets dirtier the deeper you go into the record, before snapping back to a classic style its final two tracks. They take the edge off a record that could otherwise get too serious.
TracklistA1 Morphology - Sentinel
A2 Alpha 606 - Zombie King
B1 Carl Finlow - Hive Mind
B2 Sync 24 & Joonam Prada - Prada Thunder Cuns
C1 Calderin - Sudor
C2 SC-164 - Telegraph
D1 Nomadic - Phonologic
D2 Animistic Beliefs - Otherworld Biology