Void Dweller

by Ned RaggettWith a slew of smart, groundbreaking hardcore techno singles under his belt, all Eon had to do to top it all was release a killer album. On Void Dweller, as with his other work done with the close involvement of Depth Charge's J. Saul Kane, he does just that, with a fairly consistent picture of dance as combination crowd-pleaser and sonic creepout. The odd thing is that the opening track, "A Kind of Living (Green Icing Mix)," is a much more gently jaunty number than most of what else he had done -- a quick check of the credits shows why, though, as Baby Ford provides the mixing help here instead. With that as an almost deceptive start -- there's still something in the basslines that suggests Eon's more explicit nervous tension -- Void Dweller wends its way through a fine set of early-'90s dance material. Nothing quite forecasts the next big shift in electronic music, the rise of jungle/drum and bass rhythms, but as an aggressive picture of where some of the acid house aftershocks of the late '80s ended up, Void Dweller's great, full stop. The general pattern of appropriate weird and wigged samples from varying sci-fi sources -- Dune, Basket Case, The Outer Limits, and more -- holds true here, as does the generally bombastic-with-a-purpose slamming beat collage. "Spice," "Fear: The Mindkiller," and "Basket Case" itself all take pride of place with varying mixes -- indeed, "Basket Case" itself appears in both the "white coat" and an even more insane "black coat" mix. Plenty of treats surface throughout, though. There's the deep acid bass squelch that suddenly crops up on "Final Warning (Raucous Dub Mix)," the rumbling, ominous shuffle of "Electromagnetic Waves," and the relentless crunch and murky bass synths and distorted vocals of "Infinity" help make Void Dweller the great, head-exploding collection it is.