Blackest Ever Black Vinyl & CDs

Review: With a hand in several local Bristol labels, it's no surprise Young Echo man Ossia is described by Blackest Ever Black as one of the city's "most vital behind-the-scenes operators". Prior to this Red X 12" there has been very little material from Ossia, but he's clearly a very confident producer on the basis of the three tracks featured. The title track takes inspiration and sonics from the personal recorded diaries of Peter Tosh, filtering out his paranoid words and splicing them with near ten minutes of apocalyptic, dread-filled, slowed down techno. The B side sees Ossia veer off into more abstract and largely beatless terrain that slots in nicely with the more adventurous tape mangling antics of his Young Echo cohorts.

Review: British duo Raime are back with the first album since 2012's brilliant Quarter Turns A Living Line and their signature style of dark ambience and haunting imaginary soundtracks which incorporate jungle, dub and post-punk influences into the mix also. The album is said to be largely influenced by their side project Moin which incorporates rock and metal influences too. According to Blackest Ever Black "the DNA of dub-techno, garage/grime and post-hardcore rock music spliced into sleek and predatory new forms." Highlights include the moody subtractive rock of "Dialling In, Falling Out", the dub and post punk crossover of "Dead Heat" and the brooding mood-lighting of "Cold Cain".