Al Wootton - We Have Come To Banish The Dark

Since 2019 Al Wootton's output has been nothing short of unbelievable. With a wealth of releases on TRULE, including an album in 2020, along with releases on other well-respected labels, ZamZam Sounds and Livity Sound, it appears that Wootton's trajectory is only on the rise. Al Wootten's Style has remained relatively unchanged since the breakout 2019 single Selah. Instead, Wootton is cooking down influences and concentrating his style to create arguably one of the most exciting artists in the UK. Wootton flair was birthed from the UK break culture, influenced by genres such as jungle, dubstep, and dub. This mixing pot has led Wootton to create a unique brand of intense, trippy experimental techno. Wootton Returns to the fray with a new album titled We Have Come To Banish The Dark (2023). This moody and introspective record celebrates Wootton's unique musical charm, careening through intense, brutal rhythms, oppressive atmospheres, and hypnotic synth layers. The newest offering on TRULE shows an in-form artist at the peak of their powers.

'Descender' sets the tone from the off with devastating kicks that crash through layers of visceral chalky percussion. There's a sense of perpetual downward trajectory into oppressive atmospheres designed to envelop the mind. 'All The World Is A Hospital' expand Wootton's sound entering into a pulsating and unpredictable trip-fest utilising cold and callous electronics. Chimes appear out of the darkness, breeding a sense of nightmarish unease. Gritty polyrhythms are introduced on the 'A Pox Cast', creating weight as powerful modulating bases fill the low end.

Switching genre on a dime is one of Wootton's greatest strengths, demonstrated with 'Number, Weight, Division'. Its relentless acceleration into a higher bpm amplifies convulsing bases and creates tension while keeping that swagger intact. In contrast, 'Devarim' Introduces a more lethargic and dubbed-out approach until the tempo ramps back up on the follow-up 'The Norman Yoke'. It's an intense full-throttle looper equipped with agitated alien synths that sit over the 4x4 rhythm and sci-fi pads, making it the perfect hypnotic techno lovers.

Now I'd be remiss not to highlight the impressive storytelling found on this album through the track 'Becoming Light'. The thick insidious ambience is constricting at times as chains rattle over an inquisitory bleep, creating one of the record's most cosmic and unsettling cuts. Wootton recalibrates, delivering percussion like a heartbeat and chattering teeth and the whirring of a motorised bass on 'A Cruel Sun Over Catalonia', one of the most exciting tracks on the album. It manages to be a heavyweight techno track, and its approach to industrial sound design is revolutionary for the genre. Closing out the album is 'May Your Angels Of Light Accept Him', which blends hypnotic evolving dissonance coating every morsel. If Al Wootton has yet to be on your radar, this album will change your mind. We Have Come To Banish The Dark is an explosive introduction to one of the most prolific artists from the UK's experimental two-step techno scene.

Tracklist:

1. Descender

2. All The World Is A Hospital

3. A Pox Cast

4. Number, Weight, Division

5. Devarim

6. The Norman Yoke

7. Becoming Light

8. A Cruel Sun Over Catalonia

9. May You Angels Of Light Accept Him

Label: TRULE

Al Wootton - We Have Come To Banish The Dark