Available on: Blackest Ever Black 12″

It must be tempting, when planning a new label, to go straight for the commercial jugular; play it safe for a first release, get a big name in, don’t take any risks, tick the common denominator boxes to assure an easy ride. New label Blackest Ever Black, however, eschews such conventional wisdom; from the label name (presumably at least a nod in the direction of Haswell and Hecker’s noise album), to the debut release being from the hitherto unknown Raime, to the vinyl being beautifully pressed and packaged, this is a label that immediately signifies an intention to do things the right way, not the easy way.

And the content, too, is marked by a seriousness – a feeling that rather than being three tracks picked from a demo DAT, this is the start of a body of work, something confirmed by the stolen snippets of the follow up release that have been heard. It’s likely that some will hear Raime’s music as being positioned obliquely to dubstep, possibly prefixed with the ubiquitous ‘post-‘; however, their work here is much more expansive than that. There are elements of plenty of older, darker, stranger musics in there – the foreboding, rhythmic ambience of Muslimgauze or Rapoon, the space and light-depth of African Headcharge, and the evocative darkness of classic 4AD – indeed, there is something unashamedly gothic about the whole affair.

Whilst the industrial density gets a little cloying on ‘This Foundry’, all three tracks are marked out by an inspiring nod to current sounds as well as past ones; those who’ve enjoyed the likes of Shackleton or the more outré cuts from the Ghost Box and Mordant Music stables will find plenty to get immersed in. ‘Retread’, the opener, juxtaposes slow swung drums against a plaintive wordless vocal, tape reversed effects and a grating synthetic pulse, whilst the last track, ‘We Must Hunt Under The Wreckage Of Many Systems’, even brings to mind the solo work of Ilpo Vaisanen from Pan Sonic, with motorik drum echoes padding atop what sound like chanted refrains and a sustained bass pulse.

There’s a devotional aspect to this release which marks it out as something special; an esoteric air that lends you to rewind and replay in an attempt to decipher the true meaning. Raime’s impressive debut points to a bright (gloomy) future indeed.

Ruaridh Law