Hidden Empire - Mind Palace (2018)

With just a few EPs to their credit, production pair Hidden Empire deliver their debut album. It’s a bold move, but one which showcases their production skills. “Journey Into Self” is a menacing, ebm-style groove, while on “World of Fantasy” and “Hummus”, they drop pulsating, mesmerising tracks, like evolved versions of 90s trance. “Acid Flashback” is also redolent of the same decade, but recalls the wildest 303 excesses of Emanuel Top and vintage Harthouse. Proving that they are not just obsessed with the past, “In The Woods” is a noisy, rolling techno groove, while on “Fafnir”, they channel the influence of the Middle East for a spellbinding percussive workout