There are two states of being at techno clubs, a state of heightened awareness and connection to the body, and a state of dissociation in which the body is seemingly directed by a consciousness other than one’s own. Yet a space of transition exists between them, and it is there that one finds Brooklyn-based producer WTCHCRFT’s forthcoming six-track EP The Machine for Boysnoize Records.

The Machine is undeniably a techno record, but the musical influence of WTCHCRFT’s Dominican and Jamaican heritage can be heard from the first bar of opener “Trust in the Machine.” While his samples sizzle with digital noise, WTCHCRFT’s syncopated drum patterns stutter off the grid, refusing to conform to strict quantization. The arrival of a 4/4 kick, however, lays the first stones for a mirrored pyramid of vocal chops and percussion. The additive layering of loops are trance-inducing, but certain moments in the arrangements—dropping the low-end for a few bars, or unexpected shifts in rhythm—bring listeners back into the present, before time suspends once again.

The EP continues with “First Lady,” a DJ tool that translates oldskool hard house into a raw, modern style. “Creedooo” follows with a haunting but sensuous Portuguese language sprechgesang that pitch-bends like a shiver down one’s spine. The track is cavernous, complete with echoes and water drips, supported by an unsettling atonal pad reminiscent of touching the burner of an electric stove as a child. “FCKN RELAX” is another hypnotic roller, with a reversed kick that thrillingly drops you into a maze of microsamples and polyrhythms. For those already under the DJ’s spell, “Do I Have To” continues to command involuntary movements using a minimum of sonic elements until, half way through the four minute track, a clap awakens the mind and dancing returns to being a conscious act.

The hypnotic, however, should not be confused for the soporific. The Machine is high voltage from start to finish, with closing track “TOTAL BODY DISRUPTION” very likely to blow a fuse. Crunched data becomes booming tribal drums, which pulse and throb at the center of a rushing, dizzying whirl of chops, stutters and hi-hats. The breakdown and buildup requires attention and action. Time indeed exists, and your body is indeed under your control. That is, as long as WTCHCRFT allows it.