Burial Hex - In Psychic Defense

This super limited one-sided jobby comes in one of the sexiest screenprinted sleeves I've seen in ages. It's a psychedelic two-colour one of what appears to be a goblet with blood shooting out of it. The side of music we do have on here is pretty excellent too. Brooding, miserable drone techno with Joy Division-style vocals, at the more upbeat points here he's like a despondent and lethargic Gary Numan in the dark days after seeing his dog get hit by a truck. Towards the end we're treated to a mournful Nils Frahm-esque piano piece with occasional subtle electronic rumblings underneath which I wasn't expecting, before we get some electronic drum pulses and synth swoops and suddenly things go totally darkside with black metal style vocals and grating and clanking, and then we drift back into skittering techno beats and unexpectedly bright bass loops over an ominous drone and whispered vocals. This is a lovely recording, which seamlessly shifts through a surprising amount of ideas and is full of surprises (unless you've read this review, which contains spoilers). A moody and creative patchwork of bleak textures that I want to start listening to again as soon as it finishes.