The Teknoist - Trainwreck Magnetism Album

I suppose it’s that time of the day when it’s appropriate to think about Dead Unicorns, My Sugar Ape, Tears And Fruit Cocktail. Just from the track names, let alone the title of the album, Trainwreck Magnetism, Mike Hayward, aka The Teknoist, sets up the stage for the dark trip into his twisted mind. If breakcore was a dish, Hayward would be the culinarian, serving up a hot casserole of oldskool kick, grime and breaks. If breakcore was a ride, Hayward would be the conductor, punching holes in your ticket and stuffing it back in your mouth. But alas, breakcore is only a genre, and The Teknoist is only its king. No, Trainwreck Magnetism is not an ambient, minimal or modern classical album. It’s kind of on the other spectrum of the genre line. Falling somewhere between hadcore, hardstep, and drill’n'bass, Mike’s pristine production techniques crystallize the floating dust particles in your cranium into ball-and-stick amphetamine molecules ready to deceive your dopamine receptors. Forget the stimulants, nootropics and adenosinergics – give me something from The Teknoist instead! How to properly describe Trainwreck Magnetism? Take the word “hard”, heat it to 300°C, then quench, temper and sharpen it, now polish the remaining descriptor and thrust it with great force through your skull! Yesss, that’s better… On his second full length album for Ad Noiseam, Hayward collects solo tracks, collaborations and remixes, featuring appearances by some of my favorites, such as Mu-Ziq, King Cannibal, Drumcorps, Hecq & Exillon, and many others. But unlike the title of the album may suggest, the selection of tracks is not a trainwreck at all. Instead the album features a cohesive selection of pieces showcasing this Manchester-based sound manipulator’s skills. Check out The Teknoist’s numerous 12? and digital EPs on a handful of hardcore, gabber, and breakcore labels, including Death$ucker, Deathchant, and Nekrolog1k. Hmm… thoughts of ‘death’, anyone?

It’s been about two and a half years since the release of The Teknoist’s debut album and in that time even the most casual of heavy-breakbeat fans will have noticed a shift in the sound. Thanks largely to the efforts of DJ Hidden and a certain Australian label named after deceased livestock, the blend of Hardcore and Drum & Bass that was once so frowned upon by stuffy genre-purists has become the style du jour, with even established Speedcore labels pushing forward a “Core & Bass” front. The Teknoist, for the most part, has been sitting on the sidelines during this transition, participating casually in the form of cameo appearances on Ninja Columbo and the labels of his peers along with his now globally appreciated and oft-lauded live act. He is the first to admit that his sound is too heavy for this crowd; it’s too fast, has too many kicks or too many breaks and in a world where the term Breakcore has all but become an industry joke, this can be a career limiting move......But as per the apt titling of his sophomore album; Miike’s music possesses an undeniable, catastrophic allure, and no-where is this more apparent to-date than on his present offering: Trainwreck Magnetism.Trainwreck Magnetism presents The Teknoist in a more mature and respectful light. Some of the frenetic speed of his first album has been shed and spans of 4-to-the-floor kicks are now shattered by finely-crafted breaks, with collaborative works and remixes stemming from every spectrum of the Electronic realm exhibiting nods of appreciation to Miike’s influences past and present. Make no mistake, this album explores territories harder than most artists dare to broach and there are tracks here that will blow dancefloors to pieces but the production-values on display are impressive enough to beg for home-listening and all that heaviness never seems out of place. Much to my delight, the ominous atmospheres associated with the best of Miike’s work have been distilled to their purest form here and the sense that you’re in for something special becomes immediately apparent as his ‘Siege Of Antioch’ remix opens. The album takes several turns in surprising directions that could only be described as Dubstep or IDM but let not these titles fool you for they never feel out of place and for those that came for something heavier, they are more than complimented by the periods of savage rhythmic brutality that The Teknoist is (in)famous for.In a field of music that is so often criticized for reliance on formulas it’s refreshing to hear something so familiar yet so different. This is the Breakcore album that the scene needed from an artist that refuses to compromise his ideals. Trainwreck Magnetism has set a standard that others should hope to match.

indeed a good album, but I could not see any reason that BC had become any more commercial or accessible over the years than it was let's say ten years ago. Haven't there not allways been the breakbeat and the hardcore fraction and Breakcore as a bastard son in between? So I could not get your point.In my opinion Doormouse, Rotator or Teknoist only are more familiar to the hardcore side of breakcore as maybe hidden is. I would even say if someone likes puristic Breakcore sound, he would either listen to f. e. Hecate, Zombie Flesheater, Lasterfahrer or those Lowtec Heads than to the technical crowded Teknoist sound.