Industry veterans ‘The Black Dog’ are keeping pace with the community with a three part series of releases being referred to as the ‘Allegory EPs’. The group are recognised for their work in pioneering early Techno, with standout albums including Parallel, Bytes, and Spanners, helping them grab the attention and acclaim of music journalists at sources like Slant Magazine and Pitchfork.

The Black Dog has been a creature of change, drafting in new members and cutting into new genres. We featured their album ‘Conspiracy Tapes Live’ at the end of January, which showcased ambience and drone vibes leaning further towards the realms of IDM. The band’s core connection appears to consistently be a sound which elicits both a sense of physical claustrophobia and mental breakout.

Heavier grooves and industrial basslines have returned in the first of the Allegory EPs, which dropped on May 29th bearing the title ‘Red’. Sketching out the rough appeal of brutalist industry and architecture with darkwave ambience, the four tracks are headed by Kärntnertor, a techno house driven paying tribute to darker shades.

The next EP in the series ‘Allegory 2: Green’ is planned to made public July 3rd, and promises a minimalist return to groove.

Support the Allegory 1 EP on Bandcamp or stream it on Spotify

Hear more from The Black Dog
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Soundcloud / Spotify

Originally formed back in 1989, The Black Dog achieved a significant impact on late 90’s techno in the UK. Taking the electronic genre in dark, experimental directions, the group began a journey that continues today. Their debut album ‘Bytes’ made it onto Slant Magazine’s ‘25 Greatest Electronic Albums of the 20th Century’ and their third album ‘Spanner’ was included on Pitchforks ‘50 Best IDM Albums of All Time’.

The Black Dog’s line up has fluctuated over the years, but the consistent element throughout has been Ken Downie, founding member and the artist that emerging collaborative group Dust Science approached back in 2005 to discuss a release. Taking a step further than perhaps either side expected, two of Dust Science’s team members joined Downie to produce the ‘Bite Thee Back’ EP which helped to launch Dust Science as a label. Since then Martin and Richard Dust have been working with Downie to release a host of EPs and albums.

The track we’re hitting play on today is the second on the ‘Conspiracy Tapes Live’ album, titled ‘Out of your League’. The style is haunting and distant, employing more elements of drone and ambience than The Black Dog has previously.

Support the release on Bandcamp

Hear more from The Black Dog
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Soundcloud / Spotify