Creeping Ambivalent Tendencies Vol 1 – Ambivalent

London’s Ambivalent Records, home to Deviant Species, has turned out a moody compilation reminiscent of B-Movie Sci-Fi backdrops.

Neural Rectifier’s Electrical Distributor has a funky feel, a deep bass and tight percussion, keeping things going to an understated yet effective breakdown where a moody pad comes in over the top of an industrial, desolate groove and (gasp) snare rolls. Deviant Species’ Beaver Inverter keeps in with the B-Movie theme, with industrial-tinged percussion and a mechanoid flavour. Flavour of the month Charismatix team up with Deviant Species on Equilibrium II, a dark and mesmerising tune that hooks you into the middle of it, with a tantalising high-end and a kick that eats you for breakfast.

Dark Soho’s Weird Combination is an awkward, uncomfortable tune which might be the intention, but falls short of the usual high watermark sound Dark Soho is renowned for. Scorb’s Mutoid is again all part of this B-Movie mayhem, but represents the point where the Godzilla comes for his dinner, or the 50 foot woman has PMT… it’s angry, darkly pitched and peaks just right. Electric guitar stabs and nice acidic flurries make for a very textured and enjoyable romp, and it’s final peak is an awesome example of full on mayhem at its finest.

Shakta’s bouncy Penumbra is pleasant and disturbing in equal measures, a blistering acid line providing the flesh and blood over a neatly percussive skeleton. Closing the album, Centrifugal Man’s Gyroscopic Force is a spooky, ghost-house exile that sets out to disturb and manages to do so rather admirably.

It’s not a bad album, and for the dark atmospheric stuff it really can’t be beaten. The overall effect though is quite disconcerting, and you are left wanting for something with a bit more brain-friendly substance.