Octal Industries present a series of new interpretations of ‘Our Seasons’

A collaboration that started in 2004 between the talents of electronic music aficionados Michael Sickinger (USA) and Jonas Thor Gudmundsson (Iceland), Octal Industries have been sketching out glacially tinged, cavernous sounding, dub-infused techno that emits a unique warmth and radiance: setting their sonorous adventures quite some distance apart.

With Gudmundsson (better known as Ruxpin) now at the helm, it was the meeting of Exalt and Verdant Recordings bosses in a Brighton boozer that culminated in the latest album “Our Seasons” at the end of 2019. To mark their inaugural Vertex release, Gudmundsson produced a 10 track LP that delves deeply into the soul of the Icelandic experience, continuously morphing and throwing down a variety of tempos and soundscapes. Not wanting to rest on their laurels, Vertex follow up with a heavyweight double 12” remix package titled “Changing Seasons”. Featuring 5 reshapes of tracks taken from the original album, they’ve drafted in the highly regarded talents of ASC, G.R.I.T., Mike Schommer, Ohm and Gudmundsson to etch a fresh set of retakes and give the original project a new perspective with a great emphasis on the club environment.

Disc 1 dives straight in at the deep end, ASC takes on the cyclical minimalism of “Roblegt” and fashions a modernist, bass and breakbeat excursion that lifts the mood and meanders over 13 mins. The American based Brit enters wide open space as he moves past the 7 min mark, creating a sweeping finale that demonstrates his mastery of sound design and feel for evolving shapes. The airy ambience of “Another Day” gets a full 4 to the floor treatment from dubpusher G.R.I.T. as he lays down his take in ‘Breathe Dub’. Pounding bass and soaring melodics collide in this powerful reversion that shimmers with a whole new energy and mesh of optimised frequencies.

Moving to Disc 2, dub techno legend Mike Schommer revisits “Borg Tekin” for an 88 beatdown style mix. In fine fashion, he slows the pace right down and reshapes the palette to embrace multiple spatial dimensions – most definitely a future afterhours favourite. Not to be outdone, Gudmundsson works back over “Forever” and pushes you into a full heady trip as the beat sways back and forth with hypnotic effect. Last but not least, “Another Day” sees Ohm enter a full morning glory moment, working his magic with elements of the original and piecing them back together in fine style.

To support the vinyl release the team have also assembled an intriguing series of remixes for digital release available separately and as a free bonus for those dipping into the vinyl release. Jonas Thor Gudmundsson reworks one track under his Ruxpin moniker.. UK based Techno Producers El Choop and Roberto deliver 2 heavier club friendly reshapes. Joel Tammik, Gunnar Jõnsson & Let Me B redirect the originals into more experimental territory whilst Sixtyone takes Dreki Flyr into a darker hypnotic place. Finally, Ulf & Ralf add layers of grand piano and strings to create a joyful, sun kissed take on Asleep.

Pre-order: https://verdantrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/octal-industries-changing-seasons-vertex-002

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