Having dropped two huge 12"s between 2014 and 15 on Ilian and heading up a killer hood up, cap down DJ set for Boiler Room, Skee Mask commits to wax his expertly crafted and long anticipated debut album Shred for his spiritual home of Ilian Tape. There has been much discussion across online message boards and Discogs comments from the techno heads who want a break(beat) from the normal 4 x 4 as to when Skee Mask would unveil more work and here he cements himself as the producer leading the salvation towards experimental Chain Reaction rooted early '90s ambient jungle techno. Across the 12 tracks on show, Skee Mask moves between washes of synthesized psychedelic incisions a la B12 Artificial Intelligence as found on HAL Conv, to more rhythmic voodoo techno that wouldn't sound out of place on Blackest Ever Black (the fierce Cut Hands smasher Autotuned) he swerves between jungle rinsers and even swallows a sheet of acid before chewing it up and spitting it out on Shred 08 while Backcountry sounds like the echos of an early Female or Regis cut heard in the wake of the next morning's post-club tinnitus. Shred is a continuation of the lineage of near-perfect techno albums from LFO's Frequencies to Fishermen's Patterns And Paths and by looking back into the more experimental rooted avenues of club-focused techno Skee Mask has crafted an album rich in historic detail but in the grand tradition of techno as science fiction sounds has its sights firmly set on the future.A1 Everest 4:37 A2 HAL Conv. 5:20 A3 Autotuned 6:35 B1 Shred 08 5:10 B2 Backcountry 4:31 B3 Melczop 2 5:30 C1 Zenker Haze Trak 4:19 C2 Reshape 2:54 C3 Japan Air 4:48 D1 Shady Jibbin' 5:09 D2 Panorama 4:38 D3 South Mathematikz 4:14
