Nørbak - Casa

Album

31 Mar

Hayes Collective is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of, if not the most exciting, underground techno labels operating today. The Portuguese outfit has taken the underground by storm with a polished, high-energy sound that values atmosphere and sound design just as much as percussive ingenuity and rhythmic intelligence. Ran by six accomplished producers, this is a rare occasion where more is the merrier. With six heads rather than one, records are churned out like no other label in this space with a consistency that's hard to rival, clocking an impressive 75 releases since 2018.

Nørbak's Casa (2025) is a shining example of Portuguese techno. Its aggressive tones meld with surprisingly clean production to complement a night in a club. Pulsating rhythms and rising synthesisers get the adrenaline skyrocketing showcased on the track 'Rosna'. Its satisfying blend of bounce and bop gives the drums a weight that sounds distinct. Nørbak finds an outstanding balance throughout, distinguishing his sound from the cut-and-paste 909 sampled kits by adding organic and woody textures. At the same time, the new album format allows Nørbak to experiment with some more uncharacteristic ambience, highlighted on 'Interlúdo' as well as the album's intro an outro cleverly titled 'Album Intro' and 'Album Outro'. The album plays with tribal German-style techno and dubstep, fed through the lens of Nørbak. No one says the inability to take rather dark sound design elements and elevate them with crisp and bright high-end shakers or high hats without sounding cheap, if anything, adds to the energy. It's evident in 'Compasso' that the strange writhing vocoded synths and monolithic percussion reach peaks and troughs that rival the Grand Canyon. The way Nørbak switches focuses on this one means the key element can chop and change at any one time, allowing the synth to override the kick drums and bass, creating an interplay between rhythms.

The rhythmic themes continue on 'Capital', where, together with Quelza, Nørbak introduces a call-and-response motif. Being one of the bouncier offerings, it does appear that the duo takes inspiration from Villalobos's micro house. The more exotic flavourings of the pips and pops add to its bounce while allowing for a high-end contrast against the rich sub-basses. Returning to the rhythm talk, 'Sobreposto' is more than a pulsing roller. It keeps audiences low to the ground with an almost oppressive use of chanting synthesisers. The unassuming nature of the track on first listen and the out-of-nothing midway breakdown, combined with the ultra-futuristic and bleeding edge sounds of this one, makes me think it'll be a DJ favourite. Suppose you prefer to engage its fast-twitch muscle fibres. In that case, I believe Nørbak's collaboration with Temudo might be more your thing. What's beautiful about 'Amigo' is a blend of desperate styles. It's a heavyweight, on the one-hand pulsing roll that only lets the gas fire a thumping kick straight to the chest, but on the other hand, the PVC pipe synth stabs add an immediacy that juxtaposes the more methodical bass.

We should address the elephant in the room stated earlier. The tracks 'Tarefa' and 'Sinal' are out there, compared to the rest of the album, but that's not to say they don't fit. What surprised me most was how authentic 'Tarefa' captured the deep midi style dubstep and Nørbak's unorthodox manner. Sparse atmospheric and a whole lot of wobble is the only way you can describe the track. It feels like an early Loafah tune but modernised with new production techniques and a keener sense of left-field atmosphere. On the other hand, 'Sinal' takes a totally different approach, finding its niche in the hard and heavy percussive side of dubstep history, think Osiris Records. Unrelenting cake drums peppered audiences and made many punters wonder if they were listening to a half-time techno set.

Casa (2025) is still very much a Nørbak project drenched in his style, but as an introduction to the Hayes sound, Casa is a great jumping-off point. Every track on the album is decisive as Norbak implements the "all killer, no filler" ethos synonymous with the label. There's much here to love, especially for those wanting bleeding-edge techno music.

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