“fight, encounter, disturbance”
Spanish techno producer Héctor Sandoval aka Tensal has released a new four tracker for Mord aptly titled Unequal Struggle. Sandoval, like his partner in Exium, Valentin Corujo and their fellow artists in Selección Natural, Oscar Mulero and Juan Rico, pulls no punches whatsoever in nailing his political colours to the mast, and those are the colours of struggle and the underground. On Unequal Struggle he calls out the elites for the daily injury they do to human culture, society and the environment and highlights the role of the underground in the constant struggle to fight it.
A steady locomotive like four to the floor beat begins opening track ‘Imperia’ as atmospheric arpeggiated synths change their sonic shape in subtle ways that could almost be a metaphor for the way the world’s right wing economic elites manipulate the financial system for their own greedy ends. On ‘Opticon’, Sandoval unleashes heat seeking like oscillations that, as the track’s name suggests, act as a quiet yet constant and relentlessly unforgiving eye on human endeavour.
‘Nuclear Navigator’ rests on the creation of small atmospheric crescendos as gradual shifts in sound, volume and rhythm take place at its base mimicking the pressure valves from a troubled nuclear reactor. The punctured rhythms of final track ‘Trivial Violence’ play out like they are echoing the destructive real time results of an arrogant pursuit of dominance and power. Like the bull pictured on the EP’s cover, it could also be a metaphor for the way violence is trivialised into contest and the way humanity sees itself as above the manipulated and vulnerable animal in the bullfighting ring. Listen to that below.
‘Unequal Struggle’ is Sandoval’s first solo release as Tensal since last year’s long player Graphical, a highly skilled exhibit of experimental techno from a highly skilled operator. It is available through Mord here. Vinyls ship out next week. You can also hear ‘Nuclear Navigator’ in our New Techno Playlist using Spotify here.
Trivial Violence
Tensal (ESP)
From the EP, ‘Unequal Struggle’, Mord.
Audio Stream