Like contemporaries Andy Stott and the Haxan Cloak, Raime prefer to explore the darker avenues of techno. Filtering industrial music's steely façade through dub's minimalism and electronic music's locked-in rhythms, the London, England duo have crafted eight tracks that are just as absorbing as they are unsettling on their sophomore LP, Tooth.
Here, Raime have transformed the more bellicose elements of their sound (crashing drumbeats, harsh melodies) into something lighter and more nebulous, employing offbeat/off-beat repetition and pulsating beats that come off melodic and digestible. Part of Raime's secret is the fact that they're not afraid to leave their tracks sparse and simple, as "Hold Your Line" and "Glassed" make elegant work of just a few scant ideas. "Front Running" and the closer "Stammer" deftly use dub elements and strategically placed hip-hop samples that help give the album a refreshingly genre-diverse feel.
Tooth demonstrates Raime as multi-dimensional musicians, even if you have to travel through a black hole to get to those dimensions.
(Blackest Ever Black)Here, Raime have transformed the more bellicose elements of their sound (crashing drumbeats, harsh melodies) into something lighter and more nebulous, employing offbeat/off-beat repetition and pulsating beats that come off melodic and digestible. Part of Raime's secret is the fact that they're not afraid to leave their tracks sparse and simple, as "Hold Your Line" and "Glassed" make elegant work of just a few scant ideas. "Front Running" and the closer "Stammer" deftly use dub elements and strategically placed hip-hop samples that help give the album a refreshingly genre-diverse feel.
Tooth demonstrates Raime as multi-dimensional musicians, even if you have to travel through a black hole to get to those dimensions.
