- With Surgeon and Karl O'Connor's British Murder Boys project consigned to history and speculation about its implosion still doing the rounds on message boards, both parties have moved on and are working on other collaborations. Surgeon performs as Frequency 7 with Ben Sims, while O'Connor's first release proper with James Ruskin as O/V/R—they remixed Ruskin's "Lahaine"—is re-launching Ruskin's Blueprint label.
Interior may not be as extreme as either producer's back catalogue, but it does expertly use some of the sounds and many of the production techniques that are common to their work. The title track has a measured pace, but its panning, repetitive groove is underpinned by heavy kicks that give it an edge. Likewise, panel beating drums and raw acid licks provide the clubby "Fallen Night" with an unspoken sense of menace.
"Rapid Eye" shows again that the devil is in the detail; its deep, dense, unrelenting rhythm populated by bursts of steely percussion guarantee the end result is dynamic rather than monotonous. Interior is nothing revolutionary, but at a time when the re-emergence of harder techno threatens to be railroaded by big room bluster or, worse still, trance indulgence, the dark side is safe in these veterans' hands.
Tracklist A Interior
B1 Fallen Night Renew
B2 Rapid Eye