Regis - Blood Witness Versions flac album

Three years ago, for its fourth release, London's Blackest Ever Black label released Regis' "In A Syrian Tongue". One track, Blood Witness, particularly stood out, and made heads turn by the dozens merely days after the record hit the shelves. Yes, Blood Witness. Drenched in reverb, heavily restrained drones, psychedelic, future-primitive off-beat drum programming, that picks up on the percussion arrangements used in the BMB project, and pretty soon a cult classic was born. According to many, this is the finest 'new era' Karl O'Connor production. Regardless of how you look at it, this is a milestone of all sorts when observing Regis' body of work. In my opinion, it is the track that perfectly captures his passion for the visceral drive of techno, post punk and industrial, and fuses it with morbid romanticism which is startting to mark more and more of his work. The remix work for Raime, Svreca, Tommy Four Seven and the Ugandan Speed Trials release may have only hinted at greater things yet to come, but this right here is where it was perfected. Blood Witness. We witnessed perfection, and the final transitory step.At the beginning of last year, Blackest Ever Black released a very limited, vinyl exclusive, 12" containing live versions of the tracks from "In A Syrian Tongue", and naturally, the spark was reignited. Approximately a year and a half later, the demand continues, and we have a full slab of wax dedicated to Blood Witness. Here is the obvious break down: if you liked the 2011 original or its companion live take with Mick Harris, you simply need this vinyl. You need to have it.The extended version is pure eargasm. Prolonged, sharpened, reduced and rendered slightly more aggressive, its blurred, fractured beats will pulverize your brittle bones instantly. Needless to say, it's a revamped version of one of Regis' all time finest cuts. The swiftly descending bass line is all over like chinese fireworks, and the trademark clock like ticking Regis likes to use much only provides that neat touch of authenticity. Yes, this can only be a Regis track.When you thought you heard it all, in comes the edit version. At the time of writing this, definitely my favorite take on Blood Witness. Absolutely monstrous drums that go berserk midway through the cut, changing pace, forming almost a four to the floor stomp, fusing the original's haziness and psychedelia with ferocious techno energy. A proper monster, believe me. Following a break at 03:30, Regis slams the music back with more grit than in any other work of his in recent memory. What a way to cement this, by now, undeniable classic.The instrumental version is basically a three minute industrial work out where beatless passages intertwine with heavily echoing, broken beats. Like an outro if you will. Overall, a worthy addition to this package, but naturally not even a patch on the immense two reworks. Basically, this is an impeccable release. This tune is seriously in the upper echelon of Karl O'Connor's body of work, and one I am a proud owner of. That said, I think that by now we've had enough of Blood Witness, have we? There are five officially released versions, and my opinion is, for this gargantuan track to maintain its classic status, things must not be pushed indefinitely. As far as this track is concerned, we've had limited pressings, represses, collectors items and specially designed sleeves. Does Blood Witness deserve all that? Quite probably. But now that we've had it, and that everyone is satisfied in their own way, let time do its thing and crown this one like it needs to be! Oh, hurry up and get a copy - now!