American Phase Fatale is one of the residents responsible for defining the current Berghain sound. As well as regular DJ sets in the Berlin techno dungeon, his latest album, 'Scanning Backwards' — which was released on in-house label Ostgut Ton last month — was made with the cavernous club in mind.
Just like his arresting DJ sets take influence from post punk, EBM and industrial, the album also looks outside techno's usual borders: snippets of speech, "brain-penetrating instrumentation" and plenty of raw textures all inform its grooves and make for a hugely visceral listen.
On this week's mix, he serves up an uncompromising set of angular rhythms, doom laden synths and fizzing techno that is perfect for the darkest dance floors out there. Importantly, there are still nuances along the way despite the pumping machismo of it all. They keep you on the edge of your seat as the dystopian drama unfolds and all consuming bleakness draws you ever deeper into a world devoid of human life forms. It's beautiful brutality from start to finish.