- The Samurai-affiliated Horo label begins its next round of releases by inviting a new artist into its tight-knit roster. Lemna, AKA Japan's Maiko Okimoto, was previously known as a drum & bass vocalist, but like many of her peers, she's been bitten by the techno bug. For Ourea I, she teams up with the long-time Horo artist and Grey Area cofounder Sam KDC for a powerful version of Horo's dark and polyrhythmic techno.
Ourea I, like much of the Grey Area music pushed by Sam KDC, ASC and Horo founder Presha, has tracks that operate at different tempos at once. The almost frightening "From Chaos Came Erebus" feels quick and lumbering at once. The detailed soundscapes on that one and "Adamantine Sickle" are huge and dynamic. "Dysnomia" is claustrophobic, an already suffocating rhythm track attacked by drum fills from every angle. It gets denser as it rumbles along.
Each track is an update of the Grey Area sound and the experimental drum & bass-techno hybrid that Horo specializes in. Only "Deception At Mekone," with its dubby snares, interlocking polyrhythms and monotonous melodies, feels like it could have appeared on previous Horo records—everything else is mightier than ever. Horo has new visuals to go with Ourea I, which suggests the label could be entering a bigger and better phase.
TracklistA1 Deception At Mekone
A2 Dysnomia
B1 Adamantine Sickle
B2 From Chaos Came Erebus