Ectomorph – Subsonic Vibrations

“After I received a promo of the first Drexciya on Submerge, I called Mike Banks to give him , and ask if I could have them down for an interview on my then radio show “Crush Collision.” He told me he really appreciated the positive but warned me that they were crazy and would talk about “fucking their mom and Madonna’s tits.” I thought that sounded great, funnier than Slayer’s image. When they eventually came down for an interview, we ran James’ voice through some processing, and Gerald showed up with his face painted half white, half black like that episode on the original Star Trek.
One time I went to visit the Drexciyan studio on the east side of Detroit, and when I walked into the basement I was greeted by Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” at full volume. James, who had a poster of a young Malcom X behind him was wearing a paperclip chain hanging from his glasses, asked me if I was surprised. I was like “No, ‘Hydro Cubes,’ the first EP, so much heavy riffing.” Despite the fact that they were best defined by their funk influences combining with the synthesizer music of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, especially Juan Atkins’ vision, I really loved how rock they were.” - from Brendan. M. Gillen Interview.

Wow the very first IT release. Truly a milestone on Detroit electro history.

Surprised no one mentioned that "The Last Days Of Skylab" plays from the inside out. I have a black vinyl pressing. Nice EP all around, "Last Days" and "Parallax View" are ace electro bangers; never get tired of those cardboard-ready breaks. Nicely produced. 33rpm. Tracklistings are actually etched into gaps between the tracks on each side.

Gerald Donald (Dopplereffekt) was part of the project at this point with Brendan Gillen. I guess that is why a couple of the tracks are reminiscent of Dopplereffekt & Drexciya.

This particular ep is the reason i got into the swing of things for 90's electro. this is the blueprint for a lot of the stuff thats out there. this is top notch electro that covers all angles. subsonic vibrations covers the whole spectrum, with elements of electro-bass to future experimental sounds. this is an undeniable record that cant be avoided.

I listened to this last night and realized I was wrong. It's "Skin" that sends chills down my spine, not "Parallax View." Anyway, whatever. This EP is great throughout, but "Skin" is my favorite track.

This is what electro should be. "Subsonic Vibrations" is firmly rooted in the Detroit electro sound of the mid-'90s -- Dopplereffekt, Drexciya, etc. Of Ectomorph's first three EPs on Interdimensional Transmissions, though, this ranks number one for me. It's not quite as experimental as the next two, but it has a bleak, dirty power that cuts right through the listener. The track Parallax View, especially, makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when the melody kicks in.©