Aki Trash – COLD HELL EP [self-released]

French project Aki Trash is an underground entity that has only recently started releasing its own brand of dark and droning techno music inspired by the cinematic world of Hellraiser, the horror series born of Clive Barker’s mind.

Its first EP COLD HELL is a 6-track voyage amidst grim ambiances and sparse rhythms, fusing dark ambient, minimal techno movements and drone elements in an evocative style which plays with subtle suggestions instead of using full-front attacks. 

The Box is an apt example of this style, a very long and droning affair with an obsessive motif upon which sudden rhythmic burst are placed, a concept made of dry darkness and hypnotizing sessions dominated by sheer calculated madness. The track slowly adds new parts without ever exploiting, dragging the listener in a confined place in space and time. The title track instead is more of a rhythmic affair starting with a steady march underlined by grim and cutting synths. A syncopated movement sees some breaks in the form of cinematic soundscapes where only oasis of grim distortion dominates the airwaves. 

Hell Priest offers a different sight with its combative kicks which march with a straight-forward pattern. It meets during it course some sparse effects and sudden stop, maintaining a mantra broken by some rhythmic experiments toward its second half. Then, a strong techno movement ups the tempo with some steady cymbals – the result being a nocturnal dark techno number that wouldn’t be out of place in any underground dancefloor. World Of Flesh starts with a percussive motif mixed with static pads and breakbeat elements, a crawling moment enriched by samples coming from the movie and serpentine snare-drums. Strong distorted kicks complete the scene in a well conceived track with industrial undertones.

Aki Trash is a name of which you should take a note, a project with its own interesting sonic world and aesthetic playing by its own rules. Let’s see how it will evolve in its endeavours and what the future will hold for it; meanwhile, have a listen to this EP on its soundcloud page.  

Text by: Davide Pappalardo.