Driftmachine don’t play modular synths so much as perform exorcisms on them.

The duo — consisting of Andreas Gerth and Florian Zimmer — build overwhelmingly anxious, even scary, atmospheres on their new album out next week on Umor Rex, but streaming right now. Yet, once the opening seance of ‘Radiations’ passes and Driftmachine kick into gear, Colliding Contours begins moving with a momentum that doesn’t let up.

The album plays like a funhouse ride and once you’re locked in, the pair push through hauntingly lit set pieces with an unrelenting industrial grind. When Colliding Contours picks up speed, like on the adrenaline pumping stretch of ‘Observant Sirens’ and ‘Gaukelwerk’, it hits hard, but even in the album’s gentler moments it feels propulsive. ‘Ambler’, with delicately placed drums and echoes, cruises to a steady stop before the eerie beatless ‘Nunc Stans’ brings it to an end. Taken from start to finish it shows just how meticulous Gerth and Zimmer can be and how well they can carry a listener.

Stream Colliding Contours below and look for it May 6 via Umor Rex.