Terence Fixmer – Comedy of Menace Album review - Speedy J’s Electric Deluxe imprint drops its first full length album since its launch in 2008 with French techno stalwart Terence Fixmer’s latest LP.
His fourth studio album, Comedy of Menace signals more of a return to the purest form of techno for the Frenchman who explores a deep and dark atmosphere throughout ten typically brooding yet moodily beautiful tracks. The album’s title is a reference to playwright Harold Pinter, who endeavored to not only entertain his audience but to intimidate and frighten them too – a concept that feels wholly fitting when discussing Fixmer’s music in general. Ever since he arrived onto the scene in the late 1990s, the producer has perused a dark and atmospheric, industrial tinged brand of techno. Often compared to EBM outfits such as Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb, Fixmer has released on a host of label including International Deejay Gigolos, From Jupiter, Data Punk and Music Man before settling down Electric Deluxe to deliver his most sinister piece of work to date. Comedy of Menace is infused with a forlorn sense of drama, weaving its often heavy-handed way through the album as the story progresses. Like the opener “Darkline,” the album is flooded with tension and a raw sounds that slowly builds into something both blinding and blistering. Tracks like “Breathless” and “My Experimentations” build from hypnotic sequencers into ferocious analogue sounds that flicker with an angry heat. “Impakt” again delves into the truly hypnotic but does so in a much more driving fashion, its beat pounding relentlessly forward as deep synth stabs and FX play out amongst the madness. “Dance Like Paranoid” continues this energy fuelled, wonkiness but it is the middle section of the album where we find Fixmer at his most intriguing. Despite its dark and cold beginning, “Things Are Over” morphs into a warmer number that flows with a much easier groove than most of its album counterparts. “Drastik” too is a warmer track, dropping deeper than any other on the album and simultaneously offering a respite of the tension that gradually builds throughout the record. Just as its title alluded to, Comedy of Menace both entertains and intimidates. But it is a form of intimidation that is best served and most welcome on the dancefloor – just as Terence Fixmer has always wanted. Anything but funny and always a menace, this record is sweltering techno at its very purest!! Label: Electric Deluxe Buy Terence Fixmer - Comedy Of Menace on JunoDownload   
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