returning with renewed force after henning baer’s unbreakable debut lp, manhigh’s sixth release comes from a name already well-known in techno circles. sciahri is the italian producer whose luminous 2014 debut on the celebrated ilian tape’s itx experimental series immediately announced his presence, followed by another on the label and two eps for the highly-rated black opal offshoot of opal tapes by 2016. he was simultaneously occupied with his ambient-leaning unknot duo with emanuele porcinai, better known as wsr on samuel kerridge’s contort label. 2017 saw the launch of his sublunar imprint and a tripartite release from him featuring a more streamlined sound than the craggy broken-beat style familiar from ilian tape. sciahri’s manhigh ep opens with ‘demur’, showcasing his most dour, industrial sounds, scraping metallic highs against the unrelenting impacts of reverberating kicks and subbass drone. ‘forbidden’ holds its forces more in reserve, the cycling, mechanical soundscape maintaining a spacious, ambient aspect, worked against a broken rhythm more implied than explicitly stated. returning to full intensity for ‘reliance’, he tightly coils the core elements around deftly-deployed percussion and a militaristic, pounding rhythm in the bass and kicks. henning baer’s reinterpretation of ‘demur’ saves little from the original apart from its overriding tension, instead adding a layer of nearly-tonal pads and an unremitting acidic bass throb pushing forwards inexorably.