- Inspired by sleep paralysis, the French producer concocts an intoxicating and unnerving blend of techno and ambient on Anetha's label.
- ABSL makes hard-hitting techno with a cinematic touch. It's a shift from the rawer aesthetic of his earliest work, but even back then, he showed a penchant for an atmospheric quality rather than just trendy industrial techno. In more recent years, the Nantes native has contributed alternately goofy and bewitching techno on Anetha's label Mama told ya. For his debut album, It's just a bad dream, the Brussels producer delves into ambient, noise and experimental music in addition to his usual misty techno, producing a chilling collection of contrasting moods. The ten-track LP showcases illustrious sound design within these genres—particularly in the creepy ambient tracks—with tempos ranging from 101 through 150 BPM, partially inspired by ABSL's ongoing struggle with sleep paralysis.
The opener "It's just a bad dream" is the most unnerving of the ambient tracks. At over six minutes, it builds up slowly, mutating from a violin-flecked vibe to a claustrophobic, noisy nightmare with sporadic animal growls. To illustrate the push-pull feeling of sleep paralysis, the following track "Sueur" jumps to 140 BPM, with ghostly vibes and a bleepy synth lead. Ambient returns on "La Bouche Pleine De Dents", where ABSL strikes a sludgy, purgatory atmosphere while church-organ pads punctuate the murk. The forlorn melody of closer "Sans Poulis" maxes out the melancholia, signaling the end of a hellish trip, like finally waking up from a disturbing episode of sleep paralysis and entering the regular world again.
On every Mama told ya release, label head Anetha co-produces a track, and here she collaborates with ABSL on the hectic techno offering "Boa Dormant." It's loaded with quirky touches like squelchy splatters, flanger FX and a Discovery Channel-esque vocal that describes a boa constrictor. Pitched at 150 BPM, "Boa Dormant" is fun and lighthearted, unlike the terrifying "Tripes," with its scratchy sawtooth horror-movie-climax melody or the relentless breakneck pace of "Bestial."
Allowing a moment to gather one's thoughts—but not necessarily good thoughts—the ambient track "Djinn, Écrase-moi" is unsettling, with its distant screams and intermittent pulse recalling the score of . It's easy to forget in these moments that you're listening to a techno album, but then there are tracks like "Lapin Blanc"—named after the zany white rabbit in Alice In Wonderland—whose spirally groove feels like it's going on forever.
It's just a bad dream creates a world of unease and urgency, highlighting the talents of a producer with a keen ear for balancing sound design and emotion, along with a ferocious approach to melding ice-cold ambient with clubby techno. Although it's not as bouncy as most listeners might expect from a record on Mama told ya, hearing the tracks in order gives a sense of the tug of war between feverish sleep and wakefulness, a lush and lethal addition to the catalogue of a label exploring some of the most exciting corners in techno right now.
Tracklist01. It's just a bad dream
02. Sueur
03. La bouche pleine de dents
04. Wake-up!
05. Boa dormant feat. Anetha
06. Tripes
07. Bestial
08. Djinn, Écrase-moi
09. Lapin blanc
10. Sans Pouls