Iamthatiam – And on the 3rd Day EP review

Artist: Iamthatiam
Title: And on the 3rd Day EP
Label: Mathematics US
Genre: Techno
Format: 12″, Digital
Buy From: Juno Records, Juno Download

The multi-faceted and relentlessly interesting Jamal Moss releases the latest EP under his Iamthatiam moniker. Put out through his own Mathematics Recordings imprint, “And on the 3^rd Day” is a four track EP of his distinguishable abstract sound that in this case, explores heavy tribal drums and spiritual dub atmospheres.

Having recorded under a number of aliases including Hieroglyphic Being, The Sun God and Jack-FM, it is as Iamthatiam that Jamal Moss builds on the sound of his home city of Chicago with his unique and expressive experimental sound. “And on the 3^rd Day”, which was inspired by Peter Gabriel’s Passion and Chain Reaction showcases an unhinged mixture of acid, industrial techno and noise.

The EP’s title track and its successor, “The Healing Begins” are the most conventional offerings on the release, yet as customary with Moss – they are indeed, far from conventional. “And on the 3^rd Day” features warped Chicago synth stabs that do actually resemble the traditional sound of the city. Of course there is experimentation there, coming this time in the form of clinking and clanking metallic drums. “The Healing Begins” goes with rattling drum machines and bends the bass and synth parts almost beyond recognition. But it is the final two tracks where Moss really brings the craziness. On “Inri” he smears tape distortion all over a rough tracky jam. With noisy FX throughout, this is a strange but harmonically seductive number. “The Wall of Breath” is sheer Jamal Moss madness – there is no other way to describe it – apart from maybe calling it an extract from a stethoscope recording of an industrial factory’s techno foetus.

Throughout this EP we see Moss operating on the fringes of his most abstract output yet. However, he manages to keep it expressive and powerful at the same time, making “And on the 3^rd Day” a true benchmark for the experimental sounds of techno.

Review: Tom Jones