- The melodies are huge and the beats are fast, but this techno isn't for everyone.
- "We realised while doing it though, that EBM has a really strong connection to trance. If you take a Front 242 record and speed it up it turns into something very like trance." That's Alexander Salomonsen explaining one of the fundamental components of his and Adam Askov's Funeral Future project. Sceptical, I pulled "Tragedy For You" into Rekordbox and sped it up by 15 BPM, and while I couldn't see the results landing in an Above & Beyond set, I understood what he meant. There is indeed a sleazy sort of melodicism, evocative of '80s EBM, at play in the music of Funeral Future. They like full-bodied synth chords with jagged edges that are in a zone between tacky and daring.
I suspect that's a no-go zone for most serious-minded techno selectors; others who play to less traditional crowds should have a blast with these tracks. "Taste The Excess" reminded me of going to see Scott Project, a German hard trance DJ with a personal brand to die for, back in 2001. (To a DJ with some of the most explosive melodies and toughest drums back then, I definitely mean this as a compliment.) "Blue Euphoria" matches these intensity levels and folds in a sugar-rush breakdown that should nicely split opinion. The final two tracks will appeal to DJs who dig this aesthetic but want something more subtle. The urgency of "Golden Star" creeps up on you as its synth lead unfurls, and "Continental Heartbeat" has one of those simple rave bleeps, left high in the mix, that work so well on a less-than-sober dance floor.
TracklistA1 Blue Euphoria
A2 Taste The Excess
B1 Golden Star
B2 Continental Heartbeat
