Harvey McKay makes a welcome return to Cocoon Recordings with the Black Spider EP, featuring three heavy-duty cuts that spin out in a variety of directions, constructing a formidable web of peak-time mayhem in the process.
Black Spider bites hard from the get-go with a venomous bassline that pulses and mutates through a series of precision peaks and troughs. The track kicks repeatedly, drenching the dancefloor in washes of analog noise while McKay still finds space for a barrage of clattering percussion. Haunting ambient voices and a mysterious spoken mantra add yet more texture to the cavernous, gothic atmosphere it conjures.
Next up, the disconcertingly titled Sticky Carpet utilizes a 90s hard house vibe complete with crunching, distorted beats, and a glistening octave-jumping synth pattern that slides and constricts around the chugging bassline. However, the track really comes into its own as alternating metallic patterns start to dominate in a homage to the hi-hat, whipping the dancefloor into shape as they switch in and out, jostling relentlessly for attention.
Finally, hardcore junglist tendencies take center stage on Packed Lunch as another rasping, doomsday bass rides the sonic spectrum, simultaneously spitting sparks and shaking the foundations to the core. Scattered arpeggios add a certain discord to the fray as the pounding breakbeat hammers out a pathway to oblivion. Packed Lunch definitely packs a punch, adding extra spice to an EP that's exclusively for the headstrong.