[Horizontal Ground]

For a minute there, it seemed like the Frozen Border/Horizontal Ground family were taking a turn for the more transparent. The fifth Horizontal Ground release, however, is pretty scant on information, with the artist code looking a whole lot like 1.n.4, but it’s hard to be certain about a black stamp on a black label. So either get cracking on this new bit of code like an NSA agent, try to match timbers between records to find out who made it, or just enjoy the music as it’s presented to us. It’s not hard to surmise that Horizontal Ground would prefer the latter.

The A side’s kicks and claps are all pitch-black techno, but the track really kicks off when deep bass rumbles and Basic Channel-echoing dub sounds come into play. Everything about the first four minutes presages an impending massive breakdown, and when it arrives it provides a pretty stunning 9 AM moment. The B side is a bit more interested in maintaining a groove than prompting a strobe-light induced flashback, and it does so quite well with dense rhythms full of hefty low-end. There’s an bit of a melancholy tone ringing in the background, but the biting synth stabs keep this a strictly dance floor oriented operation. While Frozen Border and Horizontal Ground certainly stay true to the most techno of presentations, it’s reassuring that the music hasn’t once lost sight of what it’s meant to be — purist techno. And damn good techno at that, as I can’t imagine any techno jock in his right mind leaving home without this one in the bag.