Heretik Hors Scierie 808 (a special series of vinyls from the French hardtek-collective) is the kind of vinyl-record you may not see often – especially nowadays. This record comes as a very beautiful blue shape-vinyl containing two tracks from John Lord Fonda aka Hermetic Unity on the A-side and a track by artists of the famous Heretik-collective on the flip. The untitled EP is more than just a pretty eye-catcher though, as one can definitely hear once the needle touched the record.

“Jabba’s Dialect” by Hermetic Unity on the A-side shows us right away that the vinyl’s catalogue-number chosen is 808 on purpose, as this track unleashes a storm classic drum machine-sounds on the listener. Distorted, raw and twisted are the adjectives that describe this track best. This rough French tune with its funny name gains an incredible strength from a fantastic build-up with constantly rising tension and an intensity that is enforced by good work on the perfectly fitting synth-lines. A great piece of harder techno music, not only for the hardtek-heads (hardtek is a form of techno which is omni-present on illegal raves and so-called “teknivals” in countries such as France, Czech Republic, Italy or Spain for instance). Fans of old-school techno-sounds will certainly love this track too, and supporters of the more German-influenced hardtechno-scene may see this one neatly fitting into their record-cases also. Splendid!

The second track from the flip-side is Heretik System’s “Bad Reception”. After the great reception the A-side has received, Heretik System’s production does not stay true to its name, as it turns out to be such a cool, solid tune based on classic Roland TR-sounds that a bad reception of the record by the party-crowd is absolutely impossible. Again a lot of very subtle distortion is used on many sounds, and the synths and drums simply make you crazy as you listen to this quality-production. Insane modulations, sharp synth-stabs and kicking, crispy drums with superb programming all speak in favour of this truly exceptional two track EP.

Most definitely it may not be too easy to track down this vinyl outside of France, and if you do, then you can be sure it may only be available in rather limited quantities. Anyway, if you can get hold of one, you should absolutely grab your chance and make “Heretik Hors Scierie 808″ yours! Not only the limited edition-record in itself is a piece of art, but moreover both of the tracks are very dynamic and full of mad, straight-forward pushing techno-sounds coming from the minds of some very skilled producers. The world is in need of more of such outstanding records. To me, this vinyl sums up the art of underground techno music at its best. Expect this one to be included in one of my future “HardtraX – Release The Fury”-mixes very soon! Rarely a record has managed to cause such delight in recent years. Hermetic Unity & Heretik System scored high with this one. A hurray for vinyl in 2011!

Rating: