Ubre Blanca – The Sadist EP

Album Review by Duncan Harman | 03 Sep 2015
Album title: The Sadist EP
Artist: Ubre Blanca
Label: Giallo Disco
Release date: 25 Sep

Sinister, portentous, unsettling… From the artwork's red skull to each isolated synth motif, the John Carpenter/Claudio Simonetti trappings of the Glasgow duo’s third EP are as inescapable as they are deliberate. Yet this is no mere facsimile of (or even homage to) the horror soundtracks of yore, but a starting point through which mood is teased and tilted.

The title track – all ten-plus minutes of it – is a study in how delicate shafts of icy misgiving can be revealed in stages, the mid-point introduction of live percussion adding to the number of corners behind which danger may be lurking. The Quarry and Invocation both unfurl in dancier territory whilst never losing sight of the overall narrative, while Fear of God and Saeta summon even more claustrophobic angles, like Wendy Carlos covering King Crimson. This closely aligned to genre tropes, and The Sadist doesn’t dazzle with upfront originality. But neither does it need to; fear and groove are their own reward. 

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