As far as genre is concerned, New Zealand producer Fis (a.k.a. Oliver Peryman) refreshingly doesn’t give listeners much to go on. His EPs have been loosely lumped in with drum & bass, if only because of tempo, but Peryman is about as close to that genre as Shackleton (a close reference point) is to dubstep. Like Shackleton, Peryman creates off-kilter, claustrophobic compositions, which are typically laced with some hints at occult ritual. The two tracks (and brief interlude) on Homologous, his latest 12″, do just this. Beyond that comparison, it’s safe to say there are not many artists who sound even remotely like him.

This uniqueness is certainly commendable, as it’s more important than ever for an artist to have his own signature. However, when it comes to the question of whether these tracks are more than just interesting experiments, it’s difficult to say. “1” cuts an unsettling figure, its undulating bass pressure specked with odd croaks and shuddering droplets of lasers. “2” feels even more malicious, and more synthetic as well, but it features a similarly disjointed rhythm of rustles and rattles, offbeat claps, and throbbing bass, with an eerie “wind” whistling around it. Both of these pieces (and the foggy but busy interlude) capture dense, teeming landscapes, somewhere between the forest and the factory, though as the sample on “1” attests, “you create your own environment.” Regardless of its implications, Homologous is largely noteworthy because its creator dares to move in such abstraction.