Cassegrain are the pairing of Alex Tsiridis and Hüseyin Evirgren, and although they’ve released a number of well-received EPs, this six track EP ‘Tiamat’ for Prologue is their most substantial effort to date.
Opener ‘Taiga’ is a tense affair. All loping thump and densely slapping delays, it calls to mind the unremitting squashed atmospherics of recent Andy Stott sped back up to the techno speed that Stott sought to mutate in the first place.
‘Turn Aside’ retains the grubby high-mids but incorporates an altogether more traditional rhythmic suite to provide peak-time thump, building upon it with increasing layers of distressed sound design.
Title track Tiamat’ is the pick of the bunch; it features more intricately deconstructed fidelity, this time abetted by a genuine sense of unease and tension thanks to machine-like drone and high-end pulses. The sense of theatre is on a par with Shackleton‘s recent efforts, which, for me, is high praise indeed.
‘Task’ is probably the most unrelenting offering, using a basic palette to depict a stark reality, and is just a shade behind its predecessor in terms of quality.
Preview the whole EP below and head on over toJuno to pick this up.