Transfigured’ EP

"The five years old imprint Integrity Records blows the 20th candle of its catalogue with an intriguing four track EP by minimalArchiv called ‘Transfigured’, featuring also a remix by John Beltran. We carefully listened to the UK based artist’s new record more than once and we must admit that the whole EP is an absorbing journey through his musical mind and an impeccable display of his talent as a producer. What shines through is a careful selection of captivating sounds in the ambitious pursuit for the perfect loop, resulting in a strenuous and energetic 25 minutes of music. ‘Transfigured’, the opening and title track, is an engaging Techno beat stuffed with stimulations, like the slightly glitched vocal samples incessantly chasing each other, the solid rhythm section and the subtle melody leading to a harmonic, spacey explosion. The record goes on with ‘Stone’s Throw’ which is another example of minimalArchiv’s capability of blending different elements, always creating something unheard. When we tried to coin a new word to describe the second track we came up with ‘Harmonacid’, being it an actual combination of two - if not more - musical worlds, which really caught us off guard in terms of listening, creating a deeply engaging sonic atmosphere. The third step into the EP takes us to ‘Burning Heart’ which - again - causes a miscellaneous of hypnotic feelings. The solid Techno broken-beat, after a Deep intro, drives the track on a bumpy road dotted with beautiful, contrasting and evocative sensations, where the initial impression of slight, dark discomfort slowly opens to a silver lining. Proper banger! The closing tune is John Beltran’s truly personal version of ‘Burning Heart’. It is totally unnecessary to mention here the absurd variety of the Michigan’s artist musical abilities, being him -inexplicably- one of the never enough lauded lead actors of the world of Techno. Everything he touches become gold and this should be proof of it because his remix, in our humble opinion, is one of the most intricate yet elegant, dynamic and inspiring productions you’ll hear this year. After all, one of the clearer demonstrations of a big talent is making look easy the most baroque and labyrinthine things. "