HIOLL — Zero Gravity EP Part 2

Hioll’s Zero Gravity EP Part 2 continues the Cuban producer’s collaboration with Planet Rhythm with six new techno cuts released as PRRUKBLK166P2, the second half of a two-record project built around a dark, futuristic and uncompromising vision of contemporary underground techno. Following Part 1, which introduced five tracks including “Lord Clouds”, “Anomaly Detected” and “Digital Serfs”, the second 12-inch expands the concept with “Rent Algo”, “Zero Gravity”, “Resistance Circuit”, “Platform Kingdoms”, “Nothing Was Real” and “Drift Protocol”. Planet Rhythm classifies the release simply as Techno, while the label’s distribution describes the record as a Planet Rhythm UK Black edition with a label sleeve. Hioll, the alias of Cuban producer Julio César Machado, has developed a distinctive position within the international techno underground through a production language that connects industrial textures, acid electronics, hypnotic repetition and uncompromising club functionality. His work through his own Abstraction imprint and appearances on labels such as Planet Rhythm, Soma and Mord has consistently focused on the darker and more experimental possibilities of techno. His Abstraction releases demonstrate a particularly clear interest in industrial sounds, acid basslines, rhythmic synthesizers, changing percussion and vocal samples, with the music designed for intense club and rave environments. Zero Gravity EP Part 2 takes that established vocabulary into a sequence that feels deliberately technological. The track titles themselves form a loose conceptual language: “Rent Algo”, “Resistance Circuit”, “Platform Kingdoms”, “Nothing Was Real” and “Drift Protocol” suggest systems, machines, digital environments and controlled instability. Yet the release does not depend on narrative or cinematic effects. Its identity remains rooted in the physical architecture of techno — repetition, percussion, low-end pressure and evolving electronic textures. “Rent Algo” begins the record by establishing the technological atmosphere immediately. The title points toward algorithmic logic, and the track fits naturally into an EP concerned with the relationship between human movement and machine-generated rhythm. Hioll’s production style favours layers that can develop gradually rather than conventional verse-and-chorus structures, allowing the groove to become the primary organizing force. The result is music designed to function over time, particularly when played within a long-form techno set. The title track, “Zero Gravity”, occupies the conceptual centre of the release. Rather than treating weightlessness as an invitation to abandon rhythm, the track can be understood through the contrast between physical club propulsion and an atmosphere suggesting suspension. That tension is fundamental to hypnotic techno: the kick and bass provide the physical anchor while synthetic textures create the sensation of space around it. Hioll’s background in industrial and acid-influenced techno makes this contrast particularly effective, giving the music both mechanical precision and a sense of instability. “Resistance Circuit” shifts the focus toward rhythmic tension. Its title evokes an electronic system under pressure, and the track works within the same territory of repetition and controlled variation. Rather than depending on a large melodic payoff, the interest comes from the interaction of rhythmic elements and synthetic detail. Small changes in density, texture and modulation become increasingly important as the track progresses, making it well suited to extended mixing. The fourth cut, “Platform Kingdoms”, continues the futuristic atmosphere but broadens the EP’s sense of scale. The title suggests an artificial infrastructure or digital territory, and the track functions as another exploration of space within a firmly locked techno framework. This is one of the strengths of Hioll’s approach: the music can sound expansive without sacrificing the directness required by the dancefloor. “Nothing Was Real” introduces a more ambiguous psychological dimension. The title implies uncertainty, perception and artificiality, concepts that fit naturally with the EP’s recurring technological vocabulary. In musical terms, the track belongs to the same family of hypnotic constructions, where repetition creates a state of concentration and the surrounding electronic details gradually alter the listener’s perception of the groove. “Drift Protocol” closes the record and provides an appropriate final chapter. The word “drift” suggests movement without a fixed destination, while “protocol” implies an underlying system or set of rules. Together, the title captures the balance running through the entire release: controlled rhythm combined with an impression of continuous movement. As a closing selection, it works naturally within a DJ sequence where the final track needs to maintain momentum while opening a route toward whatever comes next. The six-track structure makes Part 2 particularly useful as a DJ record. Instead of presenting a single headline track surrounded by supporting material, Hioll offers a complete sequence of techno tools that can be used at different stages of a set. The tracks share a coherent aesthetic, but their individual titles and arrangements create enough variation to prevent the record from feeling repetitive when heard as a complete 12-inch. The relationship between Part 1 and Part 2 is also important. The first record contains five tracks, while the second expands the project to six, making the complete Zero Gravity concept an unusually substantial body of material for a Planet Rhythm Black release. The two records should therefore be viewed together rather than as unrelated EPs. Part 1 establishes the initial vocabulary; Part 2 develops it further through a series of titles and rhythmic environments that push the concept deeper into futuristic and industrial territory. Planet Rhythm’s own catalogue provides an appropriate home for this approach. The Rotterdam label describes itself as a platform exploring the boundaries of techno and deliberately avoiding the idea that the genre should be limited to one particular direction. Its catalogue encompasses raw, deep, hypnotic, industrial and experimental approaches, while the Planet Rhythm Black series is specifically designed around stripped-back presentation and limited vinyl editions supporting underground artists. For DJs, PRRUKBLK166P2 is particularly suited to extended techno sets where gradual development matters more than immediate hooks. The tracks can sit comfortably inside darker, hypnotic and industrial selections, providing rhythmic continuity while introducing synthetic textures and conceptual atmosphere. The six-track format also gives selectors more options when building a set from one record, with different cuts available for transitions, deeper passages and more intense sections. For collectors, the release gains additional significance from its position within Hioll’s catalogue and the two-part Zero Gravity project. PRRUKBLK166P2 is presented as a Planet Rhythm UK Black 12-inch with a label sleeve, while the related Part 1 is specifically issued on colored vinyl. Both releases belong to the same catalogue number sequence, PRRUKBLK166P1 and PRRUKBLK166P2, making them clearly connected physical editions. Zero Gravity EP Part 2 ultimately works because Hioll keeps the concept subordinate to the music. The futuristic titles provide a thematic framework, but the record is still fundamentally about rhythm, pressure and movement. “Rent Algo”, “Zero Gravity”, “Resistance Circuit”, “Platform Kingdoms”, “Nothing Was Real” and “Drift Protocol” form a cohesive set of contemporary techno tools that extend the darker, industrial and hypnotic tendencies already present throughout Hioll’s work. As the second half of the Zero Gravity project, PRRUKBLK166P2 is a strong statement from an artist whose sound has remained closely connected to the physical and experimental possibilities of techno. It is dark without becoming static, futuristic without relying on obvious cinematic gestures, and functional without sacrificing atmosphere. For selectors looking for uncompromising underground techno on vinyl, Hioll’s Zero Gravity EP Part 2 offers six tightly connected cuts designed for long blends, demanding dancefloors and deep immersion in the machine-driven side of the genre.