From the metal-hewn flatlands of Finland comes a dark new force in electronic music. Forged in the electrical fire of industrial; nurtured through the apocalyptic feedback of art rock, experimental and all things disruptive; and championed by the most influential names in EDM and beyond, Huoratron is deeper, stranger and harder-core than whatever you thought was before. Huoratron came to life in 2003, the brainchild of DJ/producer/mad 8-bit scientist Aku Raski. The bearded ones beginnings are shadowy, as are his methods: There are reports that he was discovered at a Nordic metal festival, and that hes developed a bit of code that mutates a track every time its downloaded, making it unique to every individual listener. A survey of his videos reveals a night world of hidden horrors revealed: The demons between the sound waves (Cryptocracy); the predator inside the vixen (Corporate Occult). He once described his music as the smell of something burning. His sinister vision has taken form in just a few releases: Some material for Finnish label New Judas, including the proactively aggressive Prevenge EP, containing angry blip-fest $$ Troopers and Corporate Occult, a slice of electro-house gone horribly awry. A set of remixes that changed H.I.M.s In Venere Veritas from a jangly bit of radio rock to a doomed ride aboard a haunted 747; and M.I.A.s Internet Connection from her usual minimal-funky hoedown to a sizzling nuclear rain storm. But after signing to Last Gang in 2010, Raski hit the studio, emerging a year later with a flintier glint in his eye, and Cryptocracy, his first full-length album, out April 24. "To be blatantly honest I do not personally feel a close resemblance to many, if any artist within my scene", he says via remote email transmission. This is mostly because I'm driven by my own vigorous motivation and do what I do despite associations made by others. I mean no disrespect by this. It is simply a fact that I, as an artist am in the center of the storm and feel content there. Cryptocracy is a journey of destruction, driven by chip synths, distortion and gut-punching bass. Recognizable sounds peak their heads out occasionally: A house riff on Transcendence, a dubstep pass on Sea of Meat, stripped-down techno on A699F. But theyre swallowed up by an apocalyptic wave; the noises, textures and sonic sneak attacks that are Huoratrons signature, born more from a feeling than a genre focus. When one is younger, bands simply tend to have bigger and deeper influence on you, says Raski. Mine can be found somewhere between the screeching feedback of Sonic Youth, the industrial dystopia of Ministry, the relentlessness of Big Black, the stupidity of Skatenigs, the arty farty of Alice Donut and of course, Pixies. What these bands have in common to what I'm doing today not so much, I would gather. A fixture on the European festival circuit, Huoratron has also sold-out Webster Hall in New York, Avalon in L.A., and Voyeur in San Diego. He recently opened for Skrillex on his L.A. takeover mini-tour, at the headliners behest. Throughout 2012, expect the cacophony and doom of Cryptocracy to take the States by storm.