Review Summary: Embrace the WUBS.
Rrose is an alias of California based musician/insane beat maker Seth Horvitz. Apparently this dude has been creating music since the early 2000s under different names. I don’t know much about him and I don’t know if anyone really does, but I do know one thing…his 2011 EP
Merchant of Salt is an absolute BANGER.
This EP is rooted in an almost industrial based type of techno with heavy house influences as well. The main strength for me is Rrose’s ability to throw so many different sounds in your face in such a short amount of time. This is just over 14 minutes long but good lord does it pack a huge punch. First track Waterfall immediately hits you in the jaw with some deep industrial bass sounds that could knock your ass right to the ground. This shit is HEAVY and the deep bass is the emphasis of the entire track. Its as if Rrose wants to kick your ass in a dance off and won’t stop until the darkness of the bass literally wears you out to a point of exhaustion. The second and final track Shepherd’s Brine is a bit more upbeat and danceable in a normal sense. Ambient backdrops are accompanied by a beat that sounds like the musical equivalent of a strobe light going off in your face. You have a brief calmness….and then the beat drops and you’re immersed in an atmosphere that sounds like the nightclub you were in dropped into a dark abyss at the bottom of the ocean.
Merchant of Salt is the definition of something being short and sweet. This EP doesn’t even hit 15 minutes but the sheer atmosphere created will leave you longing for more. The industrial/ambient bits will have you feeling the vibes of minimal techno, but then simple but heavy beat drops will leave you wanting to dance until the cows come home. That’s exactly how I love my techno. Rrose hits all the right spots on this EP. It’s darkness and light fighting for one spot. It’s danceable yet minimal and heavily atmospheric. It’s just an amazing and varied techno EP. Get on it my boys.
