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AV-8 – Pyrogen (Mad Monk Mix)

Been ages, hope everyone is doing OK! Here’s an absolutely mad 1992 tune that showed up in the mail for me recently. Honestly I’m not too phased by weird 92-93 stuff, but this one was so off I couldn’t help but post it here. No idea about more info on the artist, or label. The label is listed as having some earlier techno release which is quite rare and pricey, decent but nowhere near as odd or mental is this. This single, on the other hand, is one of the weirder 92 ones I’ve ever heard. Some bits of remind me a BIT of Bodysnatch’s weirder stuff, but that’s a bit of a reach. On both tracks, samples and ideas keep dropping in and out of the tune every few bars – not sure if the term “sampleadelic” begins to covers it! By the time you get used to one sound, it’s gone and something else is popping in.

It was a bit tough to decide which tune to post, as both sides of this single are pretty crazy. I’d say this track “Pyrogen” is a bit more normal and (dare I say) playable, though it’s still quite odd. The flipside “E” is, as the name would suggest, more ravey and mad. The only downside to “E” is a frequent distorted the guitar sample, which isn’t awful but where big guitar samples are a bit of a personal pet peeve for me in old 92 hardcore tunes. Still, both sides are cool, and this is definitely a record worth tracking down if you like your oddities. It reminds me of something Chris / DJ Sav (RIP) would have played and enjoyed.

Also, I didn’t notice this at first, but Nebkins pointed out to me that this tune is also on the Interlok EP in some form. Listening to that version it sounded a bit different, but I’ll leave it up to others to confirm / deny (could be the same).

Respect to the artists, who are listed on Discogs as “DC Banks” and “SP Roberts”.


AV-8 – Pyrogen (Mad Monk Mix)

Here’s a link to the other track:

3 Replies to “AV-8 – Pyrogen (Mad Monk Mix)”

  1. Great to see a new post on here Pete! Pyrogen is a wonderfully odd little tune, the sort of thing my synth-playing and ambient-obsessed mate would try to play me deep into a sesh when i was too blitzed to argue. E is a bit too wacky for me and reminds me of something like Jive Bunny!

  2. Nice to see a new post. Almost reminds me of one of those US rave releases that borrowed from other tunes of the time but didn’t quite sound like authentic UK hardcore. This releases appears to be by UK producers but yeah an odd take on the Hardcore sound of the time.

  3. Just wanted to say great show on jungle train tonight and great to come back on here too and revisit the page – always an inspiration!

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