Portion Reform
The Supreme Negative

Repetition, existing in the practice of repetition, an obsessive reiteration of maniacally sick forms aimed at control, the Downwards sound does not expose itself to outdated futurist man-machine dichotomies in the Kraftwerkian sense or to aseptic intellectualisms akin to Autechre. The man-machine is born dead and deformed, and aseptic intellectualism would die a violent death among the rubble and the grey buildings of Birmingham.

The denial of everything seems to be the only overwhelming aspect, an infinite here and now, a total and enveloping void, like the rough and opaque grey generated by these sounds, a rejection of any kind of aesthetic embellishments, erecting impenetrable steel barriers to keep everything away, forced isolationism, violent and hyper-realistic.

There's no need, therefore, for any grandiose Detroit-style proclamation, no adherence to kaleidoscopic neo-psychedelic styles for tired Warpian robots, no sidereal dub technoid floating made in Berlin. An austere black and white aesthetic made of metal, bare walls, and gears seems to be the only true aesthetic reference of "The Supreme Negative".

The impact is stunning, but you must go beyond, you must go further, and gradually, in a labyrinth made of chimneys, mountains of rusty scrap, crumbling buildings, and that oppressive void, you find yourself face to face with the awareness of listening to a sound that is alive and vital, made of devastating beats yet full of groove, trapped in repetitive loops sharp as scalpels that seem like the gasps of dying machinery.

Overflowing and carnal, the Downwards sound eventually reveals its true nature, blends in with the surrounding greyness, makes us believe it is the very essence of it, offers no footholds, no interpretations, it hits hard, grabs you by the neck, and forcefully puts you against those decaying walls; it's up to you to let yourself fall into its hands, let yourself be carried away, and perhaps, when "Shift Worker" starts towards the end of the album, you'll feel some damn chills down your spine.