Rave Review: Second Storey - Descend To Ascend
Second Storey has long dealt in dark, twisted electronics across storied labels such as Houndstooth, R&S Records, and Aus Music. He returns for his second outing on Rotterdam’s electro stronghold Frustrated Funk with Descend to Ascend, an aptly named EP that traces a journey into murky depths before resurfacing.
Opening track “Ambiguous Systems” sets the tone with a dense, cacophonous strain of electro. Warbling synth lines constantly threaten to spin the track off its axis, yet the rhythm presses forward with restless momentum. “Do Everything Now” follows by plunging deeper into something more playful yet dark — like dropping through a warp pipe in Mario Bros’ and finding an underground rave, where 8-bit melodies play out against fluorescent caverns.
The mood shifts further downward on “Viper,” whose blown-out but buoyant low-end feels as if it’s bubbling up from some unfathomably deep subterranean chamber. Its aquatic futurism evokes a Drexciyan-inspired videogame world — strange two-dimensional characters undulating with the undersea current. The title track, “Descend to Ascend,” completes the arc, sounding like a spacecraft navigating asteroid fields and laser fire on its way to the surface.
Across the EP, Second Storey maintains a cohesive sonic language: swollen bass pressure, brittle electro percussion, and flickers of videogame-like melody threading through the mix. The result is a sci-fi journey that feels surprisingly grounded — its physical, weighty low-end anchoring the more fantastical elements. Descend to Ascend plays like unlocking a hidden level somewhere deep in the brain: a space where mechanical intensity and childlike wonder collide.
(The Lunatic is an Austin, Texas–based raver spreading the good word through his reviews and blog—and by selling the weirdest fucking electronic vinyl around.)
