Though every track on Monocorpse's second EP is dark and twisted in its own way, there's a lot of variation between tracks. Opening track "964 Old Topang" channels genuine anger, second track "10050 Cielo Dr" switches to paranoia, yet "12000 Santa Susana Pass Rd" sounds like what you'd get if AI robots in two millenia's time unearthed a book about how to make glam rock and tried to interpret it in a post-apocalyptic underground music studio. "3301 Waverly Dr" sounds like a corrupt MIDI file rendition of "Vienna" by Ultravox, but in the best possible way.

The track names, in case you're wondering, are all genuine US addresses associated with Charles Manson murders. While there's definitely a deep undercurrent of sinisterness running through the whole thing, there are gaps in the visage. The rubbery basslines and the slightly 8-bit robot synths veer some of the production slightly closer to cheap 1980's B-movies than Monocorpse probably intended. Mr and/or Mrs Monocorpse keep themselves tightly under wraps it seems, with their press info and social media showing only the plain covers of their 12"s without any sense of the artist underneath. There's something just a touch too obvious and middle-class about it all, as though it's music that wants to homage David Lynch rather than music that really wants to scare you.

At 7 tracks and 49 minutes, this release seems to stretch the definition of an EP somewhat.

Every track follows the formula of opening track "Terminus", quickly establishing mesmeric tech grooves over which the arpeggiating synths can meander back and forth. It's beautifully done, with a strong sense of being in the comfort zone- no tricks, no experiments, just the sense of oozing confidence in the power of simple spaced-out grooves.

"Prelude" is a stand-out track, slightly more dynamic and dramatic than the preceding pieces, with the sense of additional influences drifting in from sci-fi soundtracks, yet it still wouldn't sound out of place in a deep house mix. As the EP progresses, the tracks get shorter and more melodic, with "Melpomenia" carrying a tune that feels like it's yearning for a vocal.

Ostensibly themed around Asimov's "Foundation" series, there's certainly a sci-fi feel to some of the reverberant top-end bell and whistles, but otherwise this 'inspiration' really only stretches as far as being a convenient source of great unfamiliar track names like "Melpomenia" and "Trantor". Sci-fi fans hoping for a narrative journey through Asimov's Galactic Empire might be left a little underwhelmed, but fans of deep tech should lap this up.