The LPs released on Ostgut Ton have often defied the tough, austere techno stomp that those less familiar with its output might think of as its defining characteristic. This second album from Patrick Gräser, AKA Answer Code Request, isn’t conventional techno in any way and falls well between the cracks of the label’s vital contribution to the sound. Musically what is displayed on Gens is Gräser’s ability to shift fully away from techno as a genre to somewhere broken, vivid and entirely independent.

Varied tempos are present throughout, but Gräser maintains careful control of the record’s flow. Sensa’s brooding electro stomp doesn’t invoke the energy associated with its pace due to the bass rumble that underpins it and similarly Audax has the teeth gritting intensity of an Aphex Twin off-cut, but the core of the track is the soft ethereal scape that reigns in its ferocity and gives it a minimalist feel rather than being hostile to the ears. knbn2’s broken beat feels like it could’ve been written by Special Request on a brighter day and the three beatless pieces (Mora, Orarum and An Unattainable Distance) do not feel like filler but superbly crafted soundscapes in their own right. An essential and refreshing electronic full-length.

Thomas Frost