Monopium are up first with opening track Krautrock. Motorik beats, electronic squeaks and squeals, layers of samples, whilst disembodied vocals float into the mix from time to time. The title really does tell us everything we need to know, a hint of Faust here, and a taste of the Cosmic Jokers there, this is pure unadulterated industrial kosmische.

Nightclubbing is up next, sinister drones and backwards voices give it an uncanny feeling from the beginning. What starts as quite a sparse track begins to build around the mid-point. As more samples are layered into the mix. It has a decidedly queasy feel to it, before descending into Quatermass style electronic drones.

First Impression instantly reminds me of Throbbing Gristle’s Very Friendly, the same downbeat style of spoken wordplay, backed with glitchy, screechy, scratchy, samples and squeaks, clicks and pops. There is a bleakness that again takes me back to those classic Throbbing Gristle albums, and in particular “First Annual Report”. This time, however, there is no motorik beat, purely a drone that carries the song along to its eventual conclusion.

The Other carries on where First Impression left off, that same drone remains ever present as field recordings and samples are gradually layered one upon the other creating a darkly twisted soundscape that veers into almost uncomfortable listening at times. Screeching feedback and high pitched short wave radio style frequencies abound in this final track from Monopium.

The K set begins with Introwolf. The first thing to notice is that this is a much cleaner sounding recording, but it still has that same hypnotic quality to it. Once again, we are taken back to Germany in the 1970s, albeit a much more melodic type of space rock than that which Monopium were offering. Motorik beats and swirling keyboards suggest more than a hint of Neu.

Steppenwolf is next and a real dark ambient feel is immediately evident. The track begins to build, as the band add in more strange esoteric sounding synths before drums and bass are introduced around the mid-point. Pure space rock, this wouldn’t sound out of place next to Amon Duul or Ash Ra Tempel, one more recent band that spring to mind are Sylvester Anfang II. This kind of jammed space rock is very much of that scene.

Final track is Outrowolf, starts with lush synth lines and more motorik drum beats to create a mellow electronic vibe. The song builds slowly allowing the music time to breath and flow, as it seeps and oozes its way into the consciousness it continues to build, yet it always retains its melodious quality.

This is an excellent split album for fans of industrial kosmische, and whilst both bands are quite different in their sound and approach to making music, they work well together to create an interesting and enjoyable whole. If you are looking for something a little darker, but that still has that floaty kosmische vibe to it, you can do an awful lot worse than check out this album.