Of Norway Black Desert Disco Cult

Glasgow’s Darkroom Dubs continue on form and add to a gleaming 12-year-old catalogue with another addition to their limited vinyl series courtesy of long-term label friends, Of Norway who make a welcome return. Describing their own sound as ‘like being lost in the woods in Norway’ they have released EPs through labels such as Dialect and Afro Art and now, in the follow up to their ‘Accretion’ LP on Connaisseur Recordings the Norse duo present their ‘Black Desert Disco Cult’ EP: a record that adds further refractions to their deep and foggy catalogue whilst remaining true to their trademark sound. Road tested by the Darkroom Dubs squad and doing the business in Of Norway’s lauded live set - ‘Blackened Fez’ kicks things off. Galloping hats and dramatic snare whacks scuttle together towards a purposeful, rotating bass pattern before Arabesque guitar tones are filtered in and out of focus. Whining synths bleed then in and add to an accumulating sense of tension before Dame-Music owner Bloody Mary weighs in with a stripped and functional remix that drives armoured 909 drums with a churning sequence. Percussion is deftly handled throughout a rolling groove that keeps the pressure up. The title track then heads up the B-side and kicks off with a textural synth line darting over thick stabbing bass tones. Mangled acid lines then roll into focus and are propelled by resonance control ahead of an 808 bass pattern and a rapturous synth line guaranteed to do the business on the floor. Hypercolour and Houndstooth affiliate House Of Black Lanterns then offers up a cold yet compelling take on Blackened Fez. Deep and dubby tones are set chugging under atonal drones and delayed percussive knocks that set a rich and tenebrous tone that caps off another fine addition to the Darkroom Dubs series.