More about: Blanck Mass

British electro-producer Blanck Mass returns with his latest album In Ferneaux this week. A two-track offering of cacophonous noise and beats, it evokes a vast electronic-landscape and delves into its own grime.

The album wastes no-time in kicking off, the introduction to ‘Phase I’ undeniably captivating. Initially ambient and relaxing, it soon breaks into hyper-techno beats, with wonderful synth-tones and dazzling beats throwing the album open at breakneck speed. 

As the track gains more and more edge, dimensions being added as it progresses, the sense of atmosphere builds to the point of almost dread: as the vocal sampling kicks in ‘Phase I’ forces you to dance to its nightmarish tune. This atmosphere leads to a crash of feedback, punching you in the face with its sheer ferocity. Droning sounds soon follow, again adding to a sense of tension before, shockingly, opening up to the sound of a harp. Closing out ‘Phase I’ is this orchestral tone that brings the track to the end of its captivating and entrancing rollercoaster of sounds.

The opening of ‘Phase II’ is rather the opposite. Jolting to life with a feedback so in-your-face and deliberate that it can only be described as industrial-scale, it’s the perfect contrast to ‘Phase I’s’ idyllic and blissful ending.

This then returns to a relaxing ambient tone, with Blanck Mass always keeping that sense of tension present, notably through usage of Afrobeat-inspired drum beats. These pound away, compounding the tracks sound and taking centre-stage, bringing the intensity of the track up no-end whilst firmly rooting it within the stylings of hardcore dance...like a somehow more fucked-up Prodigy.

It’s at this point the track, and thus the album, slips into a calmer sphere, with orchestral tones and sampled vocals; the result sounds like a wonderful score for a film. Classical and jazz-tinged piano bring the track to its close, and within an unparalleled context of hope and optimism. We have pushed through the dirge, into the light.

In Ferneaux is a staggering behemoth of electronic storytelling. Soaring heights, anxiety inducing lows, the album is forever changing its sounds and style, never quite letting its audience sit comfortably. It highlights the strengths of Blanck Mass expertly, and proves why he is one of the most pioneering electronic musicians around today.

In Ferneaux arrives 26 February via Sacred Bones Records.

More about: Blanck Mass