Regis has been churning out stripped down deadly post-industrial Techno since 1994. As one of the co-founders of the Downwards Label, along with Surgeon aka Anthony Child, operating out of the Birmingham borough of Halesowen in the UK, he imported Detroit's rust-belt futurism, splicing it together with the recessive Throbbing Gristle mutant gene, to create a distinctive brand of lean, mean EDM that borders on Harcore, with Cabaret Voltaire electronics strobing in the margins; the soundtrack to some possessed warehouse party.

Karl O' Connor, the birth name of Regis, has just cherry-picked his output from the Golden Age Of Techno, between the years of 1994 - 2001, and compiled them into three volumes. The second, 'Collected Work 1997 - 1998', draws its source material from the 'Delivered Into The Hands Of Indifference' album and a series of 12"s, with a number of these tracks being made available on CD and digitally for the first time. One of them, album opener, 'A Necklace of Bites', sets the tone for the 13 tracks to come: VICIOUS trash-bin kick drums and disembodied flickers of amorphous electronics; churning insectile synths, planting their larvae at the bass of yr neck, rising up to masticate all thinking. Forsaking any pop trappings, such as melody or traditional structure, Regis' music is like a bio-mechanoid killing machine; a Terminator shark, rushing at you.

Most of 'Collected Works 1997 - 1998' continues along this trajectory, forcing the listener to listen closely to notice the nuances. With a nice pair of headphones on, you can really notice Karl O' Connor's progression as a producer, like time-lapsed photography, starting with track 6, 'Guiltless'. Its still the same format: monolith kick drums and swarms of synth, but there's a bit of a shimmer to it, it seems friendlier, more dance-floor accessible. There is even some slight syncopation and hand claps to compliment the 4/4 pulse that runs through 'Collected Works 1997 - 1998', but then disintegrates into puffs of static and blackboard scribbling; Karl O' Connor will not be pigeonholed or compartmentalized.

'Collected Works 1997 - 1998' finishes off with 'The Right Side of Reason, parts 1 and 2', Regis' collaboration with Robert Görl, from influential Neue Deutsche Welle misanthropes D.A.F. Amazingly enough, considering the experimental and antagonistic nature of both artist's back-catalog, 'The Right Side of Reason' brings out the best for both, to create something polished, perfected, revealing O' Connor and Görl at work, and the whole Downwards Record posse, to truly be a force to be reckoned with; masters of their machines.

These 'Collected Works' volumes are a real god send to help navigate the labyrinth of pseudonyms, collaborations, singles, EPs, and albums that Karl O' Connor has produced over the years. He has done a lovely job sequencing the 'Collected Works' series; these records are a nice introduction to his work, showing himself to be ahead of the game, but the world is starting to be ready for his dystopian daydream. For those that like stripped down, aggressive Hard Techno, this is essential listening, a wormhole into Regis' mouldering universe.