seven

From the name of this project right down to the gritty, uncompromising, relentless beats, Synth-etik's darkvisuals is as direct as it comes. The solo project of Frank Mokros, Synth-etik has released an impressive amount of tapes and CDr's to date (including an earlier split on Frozen Empire), though they are all currently out of print and were only ever available in extremely limited numbers to begin with. At 65 copies, this disc is by far the most readily available. Even so, this collection of releases has definitely served its purpose and made an impressive impact -- recently Mokros performed live in NYC with Winterkälte and Ah-Cama Sotz, and his debut full-length has already been picked up by Hands Productions, set for a release in the new year.

Though only 3" wide and four tracks strong, for me this disc serves as an effective introduction to the project. Each song is built around thick, pervasive percussion that pummels away amidst rhythmic programming and cold, electronic textures. A crunchy, mechanized onslaught that easily holds its own against its soon to be Hands peers. An mp3 from this EP and a couple from past releases are free for the taking at synth-etik.com, and if they don't get you hooked nothing will.