Credit: Ternesc
SickElixir
[By: Blawan]
Genre: Industrial techno, UK bass
Rating: 80
Cohesiveness: 70
Track quality: 72
Beginner-friendly? probably not
Written 2026/02/07
A refusal to associate with the contemporary results in one of the most amorphous albums of 2025.
Blawan's SickElixir is, simply put, bizarre. Really, it's unable to be constrained by any genre categorisation at all. Blawan has rocked the industrial techno ship for just over a decade and a half now, and SickElixir is his sophomore record, following up 2018's critically acclaimed Wet Will Always Dry. But it's obvious that Blawan, ever the sonic engineer, is still going strong.
SickElixir is a pipe smeared with grime, rattling precariously yet arrogantly as it balances upon its rim. Or, perhaps arrogantly isn't the word - SickElixir is exceedingly confident and self-assured, but its cold, detached demeanour shows enough restraint to keep it cool-headed. It absolutely doesn't sound cool-headed, though. Blawan's monstrous basslines rip apart its beats like a giant bear with serrated claws and a roar that could blow your head off without touching you. The rest of the soundscape is unfeeling - sonorant metallic snares and juddering, industrial sound design carve through aural surrealism, housed deep underground, in chambers of disused machines chugging away at indiscernable tasks, piloted only by the heavily processed, completely incomprehensible vocals that dominate the record. It would not be wrong to call SickElixir loud and brash. It could be tempting to call it messy, but that, now, would be wrong. For all its firing cylinders, SickElixir exhibits impressive self-control.
This is probably, however, some of the most inaccessible work in industrial techno. Blawan knows this, and he wields it to his strengths. SickElixir is not particularly accessible indeed, but to those who can brave its mangled production, it's fresh and experimental. Embedded in the unpalatable growls is a powerful artistic drive; hidden in the sonic vomiting and esoteric production quirks are infectious grooves and salient songwriting hooks. This album is one you can still move to, even with a bass-face of disgust (in a good way, of course) plastered across your face, the mechanical beats competing with the cogs in your brain as to which can turn more rhythmically.
Perhaps the most prominent drawback of this record is an echo of repetitiveness. It's not a particularly pressing drawback, though, between the brutal "TCP Burn" and the intricate "Creature Brigade" and the traces of upbeat emotion in "Don't Worry We Happy", but it exists nonetheless. Part of it comes down to the tracklisting - much of the switchups can be either aggreggated in one place, leaving other parts of the record feeling bare, or they can be too short in runtime, flitting away all too quickly whilst the surrounding tracks drag on a little. If he was to nail this aesthetic, Blawan's hand was forced from the beginning - SickElixir seems to rely on its repetitiveness at times to enforce its mood. I suppose that makes it understandable, at least.
But again, it's not a particularly pressing drawback. It certainly doesn't override the uniqueness that SickElixir offers up to the eardrum, and when you're entrenched in the heat of it, the repetitiveness feels like it's trivial anyway. SickElixir is still, undoubtedly, by all metrics, an achievement of an album.
Listen on Spotify here.
The GL Lights [Standout] | (/100)
A grating, metallic vocal judders through deep, pulsating basslines to open up SickElixir with vicious intent. As the door widens, glimpses of the frothing bass creatures beyond it show through, but "The GL Lights" is kept in check by its clanging drums.
NOS [Intense] | (/100)
"NOS" exposes us directly to those frothing bass creatures of Blawan's soundscape. The vocal is whispering and frantic, anchoring the rippling low-end and thumping kicks and spry synth lines in something that vaguely resembles a hook.
Weirdos United [Intense] | (/100)
Bizarre breaks are spearheaded only by an even more bizarre vocal and a grating lead bassline. The songwriting of this track doesn't quite match the ones before it, but "Weirdos United" definitely stands true to its title.
Rabbit Hole [Switchup] | (/100)
w/ Monstera Black
A ghostly yet resolute vocal from Monstera Black gives "Rabbit Hole" some of its own personal spice that sets it apart, with Blawan playing the role of accompaniment to near perfection, building tension and finely tuning his sound design to dictate the track's ebb and flow at every second.
WTF [Dark] | (/100)
Rumbling, industrial, techy beatwork - ominous and mildly unsettling - backs the meatiest vocal thus far, with some atmospheric sound design that doesn't take too much space, letting the vocal dominate - perhaps to the track's detriment.
Casch [Switchup] | (/100)
This is perhaps the most straightforward vocal of the album, but the track is powered by a strong beat and an oscillating synth lead that completes itself over the runtime - a regrettably short runtime, though.
Birf Song [Atmospheric] | (/100)
Some springy sound design and much tamer vocal work makes this one of the more atmospheric cuts off the record, one that perhaps gets buried by some of its more provocative tracks, but a solid enough one nonetheless.
During Elevation [Intense] | (/100)
From "Birf Song", this next track sees Blawan immediately strike back into aggression, with a growling vocal and a stomping beat. This is one of the shortest tracks on the album, though, and it would have definitely benefitted a lot from being longer.
Don't Worry We Happy [Upbeat] | (/100)
The title implies an upbeat mood, and, at this point in the album, I firmly thought that was impossible (without upturning the whole thing). Somehow Blawan executes? Somehow? Even despite the thumping beat and the industrial, spacious mixing, the vocal sample gives it a little twinge of brightness.
Style Teef [Switchup] | (/100)
"Style Teef" opts for a more DnB-leaning route, with another grating bassline. This vocal is a little weaker though, and even if the track is pretty dynamic through its runtime, it doesn't quite have the substance.
Sonkind [Intense] | (/100)
There's a vague screamo vocal in the back of "Sonkind", but it's overpowered by the sustained, metallic, rolling bassline. This is a cut that progresses nicely, despite its shorter length, and it's got a lot of flavour and punch to it.
TCP Burn [Standout] | (/100)
The absolutely insane acidic bassline to kick off "TCP Burn" actually does sound like, well, what a TCP burn would sound like in musical form. Topped off with a groaning, intimidating vocal, this cut is surely one of the strongest from this LP for just being so twisted, especially with the skittering drums that pepper the second half.
Creature Brigade [Atmospheric] | (/100)
The penultimate track on this record has a swinging lead and some popping drums that only get more chaotic as the track progresses. "Creature Brigade" is one of the more intricate, finely-crafted tracks, but it's still as apocalyptic as the rest of the record.
SickElixir [Standout] | (/100)
The title track, the finale, "SickElixir" is a potent concoction of everything Blawan has vomited into the previous thirteen tracks, and it comes out as a very strong finisher, with powerful beatwork, a strong and ghostly synth lead, and a load of complex sound design bells and whistles.
- TCP Burn (/100)
- Rabbit Hole w/ Monstera Black (/100)
- NOS (/100)
- SickElixir (/100)
- The GL Lights (/100)
- Don't Worry We Happy (/100)
- Sonkind (/100)
- Creature Brigade (/100)
- Casch (/100)
- During Elevation (/100)
- Birf Song (/100)
- Style Teef (/100)
- Weirdos United (/100)
- WTF (/100)