Berlin-based producer and DJ Lars Huismann has been carving out his own sonic niche within the techno landscape since 2011. Early explorations on his own LHR imprint laid the foundation for a sound deeply rooted in dub techno influences, blending old-school aesthetics of early 2000s styles with modern production techniques. This approach crystallized in his celebrated “Sounds From The Past” trilogy on Mutual Rytm.Throughout subsequent releases like “Catharsis,” (Mutual Rytm) Huismann continued to evolve, drawing on harder, darker sonic palettes without losing his characteristic depth and complexity.
In his latest offering, the “Mechanized” EP (Monnom Black), Huismann fully embraces the often-overlooked realm of Tribal Techno, establishing it as a dynamic link between various strands of the genre and its darker territories. While Hardgroove has seen a notable resurgence and garnered renewed attention, Huismann’s intent here is not to align himself as a Hardgroove producer. Instead, he draws from Tribal Techno’s storied past—from Jeff Mills’ Purpose Maker series to Oliver Ho’s groundbreaking experiments—breathing new life into its legacy. With fierce 909-driven percussion, syncopated hand drums, and that late-’90s tension-building interplay of rides and claps, Huismann provshows es he can channel tradition without tethering himself to a single sub-style, guiding listeners towards a future informed by, but never confined to, the past.
“Mechanized” EP evoking a classic feel while injecting novel ideas into the mix. Just as “Sounds From The Past” reintroduced and recontextualized early-2000s tropes, “Mechanized” nods to the past while pushing forward. Each track—take “Dominion” with its filtered echoes, or “Orbital” with its hypnotising, resonant synth lines—hides an innovative twist amid the familiar rhythmic bedrock. Huismann employs these well-worn frameworks not as a nostalgic crutch, but as a means to slip in new sonic ideas under the listener’s radar, ultimately evolving the culture rather than merely replicating it.