This 12" is the fourth release on DJ/Rupture's label, Soot Records. Iit comes from DJ/producer Mutamassik.

Mutamassik (Arabic for "stronghold") is based out of Brooklyn, but is Egyptian in origin. Her music has much in common with Rupture/Soot, so much so that if I had heard this without taking it out of its sleeve, I would've sworn it was Rupture himself.

Mutamassik has been releasing music singe 1995. the 'War Booty' sessions were recorded in 1996 and 1998. The only other appearances I have found have been on compilations and in collaborations with the likes of Arto Lindsay. If this review has started off a bit flat and clinical, it's because the record itself leaves me feeling flat. This may seem suprising given the glowing reviews that Rupture-related stuff has received on the gullbuy.

Mutamassik's music honestly is on par with anything Nettle (DJ/Rupture and DD) have done. Her music, like Nettle's, is a mishmash of Arabic and Egyptian folk music, slashing breaks, and industroelectronic pulse, an engaging and refreshing sound to be sure.

Refreshing at least when I first heard Nettle do it, and heard Nettle do it again, and agian. If you are a fan of Nettle/Rupture as I am, then you will like this record. What you will not do is find anything on here not already enumerated on the Nettle EPs or full length.

Mutamassik simply does nothing here further develop the Soot sound. Some would argue that given the relatively low output of Soot, and especially of Mutamassik herself, that my point is obsolete. They may be, and probably are, correct, but for me right now, the most interesting thing about this record is not the music but this interesting tidbit about its origin: "The source material for this EP was a limited-edition promo CD--when Mutamassik repatriated to Egypt, customs officials confiscated all remaining copies! No joke." (from Soot website)