CD, Ant-Zen, 2010
http://www.fich-art.com/
When the first Asche album I heard – “Distorted Disco” – was released in 2000 it was at the forefront of noisy industrial and it has aged very well – if you haven’t heard it I recommend you check it out. With “The Easter Island Phenomenon” Asche maintains his reputation by creating a complex album that will challenge his peers.
“The Easter Island Phenomenon” is as gritty as its predecessor, but darker, while retaining the hint of playfulness that helped make Asche’s previous work so enticing to me. It is a rich work with low drones crawling around wet punch like snares, ominous synth lines supporting distorted vocals and disintegrating samples highlighted with snatches of electronic rasps. Its’ expansive repertoire ranges from dance floor drilling in “Dig It (Count Suckers pt.2)” to dark ambient wastelands in “A Streched Crash” to the crushing power electronics stylings of “Destroying Home”. Asche does an enviable job of taking inspiration from other genres and making it his own: dubstep haunts the gnawing tension of “Doing Bad Things” and the lurching groove of “Knee Chopper (version)”, breakcore looms below the surface in “Something Evil (version)”.
“The Easter Island Phenomenon” represents a significant step for Asche, who has clearly matured and grown as a musician without losing his edge nor his passion.
Besides the original tracks this album features seven remixes by artists I have never heard of but most of whom have been featured on Asche’s own label, Fich-Art. The pieces are all creative, dark industrialesque pieces with similar hints of other genres, unfortunately they pale next to Asche’s work.
[8.5/10]
— Rudolf Vavruch