Genre/Influences: Experimental, Minimal-Industrial, Electro-Industrial.

Format: Digital, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Rafael Martinez Espinosa released his first Geistform album in 2002. More than twenty years later the Spanish artist unleashed his eighth album -which also is the first one released by 30D Records.

Content: “Resonancia” is not totally innovative but it clearly sounds as one of the most Experimental compositions by the artist. Both debut cuts are into pure minimalism remaining pretty rudimentary. We next move into Electro-Industrial music remindings me of Dive. The work also features pure Industrial Minimalism and Experiment.

+ + + : Definitely the most versatile work by the Spanish artist who remains a genius when the tracks are a little bit more elaborated and driven by danceable rhythms. “Operator” and “Ceers” both a magical cuts and sonic illustrations of great electro-Industrial music. Espinosa ever contributed to works of Dive and these cuts sound a bit like evoking this distant period. There’s also something to say about the blasting sound treatments running through other cuts creating a tormenting sensation.

– – – : I remain addicted to the work of Geistform although this album is probably the less accessible one. Some cuts remain rudimentary giving me the feeling of being unaccomplished.

Conclusion: Geistform still stands for the future- and visionary side of Industrial music but this is not my favorite work. 

Best songs: “Operator”, “Ceers”, “White Sands”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Geistform

Label: www.30drecords.com / www.facebook.com/30DRecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, Industrial-Techno, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Based in Boston (USA) and London (UK) “Divine Practicalities” is the official debut album by this solo-project which is released on his own label.

Content: The work is mixing different elements together. The sound can be simply defined as Industrial-Techno although it’s much more than this; featuring broken rhythms, dark sound atmospheres and icy sequences reminding me of the magic of Mortal Constraint. This album also has a very minimal touch. Two songs have been accomplished by guests IV Horsemen and HIV+ while remixes have been done by Univac (a project of Rafael M. Espinosa aka Geistform) and Blind Delon.

+ + + : I discovered a great album coming from an artist with a very own style and approach. The sound isn’t totally new but as I said it moves further than simply Industrial-Techno. This artist brings influences together creating his own dark and danceable approach. The diversity is probably also due to the  guests and I salute the collaboration with HIV+ (for the noticeable, icy, sequences and Spanish samplings) while the remix of “Tightening Tension feat. IV Horsemen” by Univac stands for true sound intelligence. There’s also a great remix of the same track by Blind Delon.

– – – : The complexity of the production makes it maybe accessible for a very limited number of music freaks… but Angel Attack doesn’t sound like being concerned with quantity instead of quality…

Conclusion: This is a brilliant debut album appealing for all lovers of intelligent Electronic underground music.

Best songs: “Tightening Tension – Univac Remix”, “Oblivion War feat. HIV+”, “Forgotten”, “Tightening Tension feat. IV Horsemen”, “Tightening Tension – Blind Delon Remix”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/angelattackangel

Label: www.houseofreptilerecords.com / www.facebook.com/HouseofReptileRecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, Rhythmic-Noise.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Thomas Chalandon is a French musician based in Berlin and still involved with Imperial Black Unit while running the label AreaZ. After a few EP’s under the Templər moniker, he now joined with the label, Hands to unleash the debut album of his solo-project.

Content: Listening to this album sounds a bit like the sound of a true sonic earthquake. The sound is driven by heavy, furious Industrial & Rhythmic-Noise drum patterns. It has something old-school like and yet perfectly adapted into a modern and even refreshing edit. This heavy and bombast rhythmic has been mixed with monstrous sound blasts and dark atmospheres, which are fitting with the obscure themes Chalandon deals with. Two songs feature vocals by guests Incendie and Lapse Of Reason (side-project from the other half of Imperial Black Unit). The last part of the work features 5 remixes of “A True Terror Corporation” (the song featuring Incendie) by Esplendor Geométrico, Test Dept, Orphx, Geistform and Harsh Mentor.

+ + + : Templər’s debut album sounds as a real tour de force! This artist fully succeeded in adapting retro-Industrial elements into a modern version. It somewhere reminds me of the Esplendor Geometrico so it’s not a coincidence this band has created a remix. But the difference with the Spanish duo is that this production sounds more high-tech. There’s a kind of unpolished approach and yet it’s a powerful, top-notch production. I enjoyed the constant power of the tracks, excelling at “I Shared A Whiskey With A Ghost”, “The Inner Flame” and “Under Pressure”. Among the remixes I’ve to mention great jobs done by Esplendor Geometrico and Orphx, but still Test Dept injecting some of their own old-school Industrial elements in the remix.

– – – : “A True Terror Corporation” is not exactly my favorite song from the album so I was a bit wondered this song has been exposed to remixers. And I honestly prefer most of the remixes instead of the original edit.

Conclusion: Templər has accomplished a true masterpiece, which will appeal for lovers of heavy Industrial music driven by infernal rhythms.

Best songs: “I Shared A Whiskey With A Ghost”,  “The Inner Flame”, “Under Pressure”, “Camera Silens”, “Road To Jouniek”, “A True Corporation feat. Incendie – Esplendor Geometrico Remix”, “A True Corporation feat. Incendie – Orphx Remix”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/templernoise

Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, Electro-Industrial, Industrial-Ambient.

Format: Digital, CD, Box (CD, Vinyl, Vinyl 7”)

Background/Info: Dirk Ivens (The Klinik, Absolute Body Control, Sonar, Motor!k) is back on track unleashing a new album of his sonic alter-ego Dive! Throughout the years he collaborated with soul mates Eric Van Wonterghem (The Klinik, Absolute Body Control, Sonar, Monolith, Detune-X) and Ivan Iusco (Nightmare Lodge). There also was an album in collaboration with Sigillum S while the previous full length (cf. “Underneath”) also featured Rafael M. Espinosa (Geistform). Dirk this time joined hands together with Jan Dewulf (Your Life On Hold, Diskonnekted, Mildreda). It’s not their first collaboration as Diskonnekted in 2006 released the “Frozen”-EP featuring Dirk Ivens.  

Content: It doesn’t really matter with who Dive collaborates with; Dive remains Dive! Driven by an Electro-Industrial sound and the spooky vocals of the artist, this new work is directly linked to the particular ‘dark’ and ‘industrial’ sound of the Belgian sound terrorist. I however have to say that this work is probably the darkest Dive-album ever; you simply can hear it the tormented atmospheres, which became pretty explicit at some more Ambient-driven songs in the midst of the work.

“Underneath” was the most sophisticated Dive work so far, but some tracks from this opus are even moving a step further. The drum patterns from some tracks have never been that complex; even featuring a kind of slow Industrial breakbeats at “Black Star”. This work is filled with anguishing spheres, little sonar bleeps and ‘Klinik’-al’ sequences. Notice by the way, the title song is also an early Suicide Commando track on, which Dirk sung while “Inside Your Head” is an original Monolith-song featuring Dirk as guest singer.

The EP featured at the ‘Box’-edition reveals “EP Versions” of the songs “Inside Your Head” and “Black Star” plus remixes by Numb and Suicide Commando.

+ + + : The “Frozen”-EP from Diskonnekted already was a song that could have been released as Dive, but “Where Do We Go From Here?” confirms there’s a real connection and chemistry between both artists. Jan Dewulf injected a refreshing –although tormented, touch to the Dive sound. It’s the darkest and most disturbing work to date, which is accentuated by 3 more ‘ambient’-driven pieces on, which some background drones are empowering the darkness mixed with Ivens’ spooky vocals. But the best passages clearly are the most danceable cuts like the brilliant opening song “Inside Your Head”, but also “Black Star” driven by an Industrial –although breakbeat inspired, cadence. The minimalism running through “Invisible” is another remarkable cut while the title-song –as the last track, reminds me of good-old Klinik. On top of the production you still will notice the charismatic vocal performance of Dirk Ivens. From the EP-tracks I especially recommend the elaborated remix of “Death Machine” (one of the so-called ‘Ambient’-cuts) by Don Gordon (Numb).

– – – : I’m not as convinced by the softer, Ambient-driven songs. The production of Ivens’ vocals remains absolutely great, but I now and then miss the more enraged, shouting way of singing from the early years. The Suicide Commando–remix from “Leave Me Be” couldn’t convince me; the tune being a bit simplistic and not adding a bonus to the song.

Conclusion: The first self-named Dive album was released in 1990 (!), but 30 years later the Belgian Industrial ‘dino’ is still kicking ass. The collaboration between Ivens and Dewulf opens perspectives for the future!

Best songs: “Inside Your Head”, “Black Star”, “Where Do We Go From Here”, “Invisible”, “Leave Me Be”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.dirkivens.com / www.facebook.com/TheKlinikDiveSonarAbsoluteBodyControl

Label: www.outofline.de  / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-techno, IDM, rhythmic-noise.

Background/Info: Hands label has used to release this annual compilation, which is a look back at the “Forms Of Hands”-festival each year reassembling some of their hottest bands. Fourteen artists who contributed to the festival have been featured at this sampler.

Artists: S.K.E.T., Mono No Aware, Heimstatt Yipotash, Gatto Nero, Supersimmetria, Geistform, Winterkälte, Tomohiko Sagae, ICD-10, Katran, 16Pad Noise Terrorist, Sans-Fin, Yura Yura, Talvekoidik.

Content: Even if Hands remain one of the uncontested leading labels from the industrial music scene, industrial music has seriously evolved. The music style has been progressively, but severely contaminated by techno music, resulting in a harder, darker and underground format of industrial-techno. Most of the featured bands are clearly experimenting with techno while remaining faithful to darker influences. But a few die-hard bands or call them ‘purists’ are still into the familiar industrial format.

+ + + : If you compare early “Forms Of Hands”-compilations with this latest one, you only, but have to agree this is a label in progress. This is the new standard of industrial-music, one that will bring people to dance a frenetic way till reaching a state of trance. From the minimal-like techno format of Supersimmetria to pure techno by Gatto Nero to an experimental format by Mono No Aware to the sound intelligence of Geistform, the techno heads will be ravished. Sans-Fin, Yura Yura and even Tomohiko Sagae bring us a more ‘classical’ industrial style.

– – – : I sometimes ask myself what early Hands fans would think about this industrial (R)evolution! I’m not sure it will please all fans.

Conclusion: This is the kind of sampler simply confirming each year again that the label from Dortmund remains ‘the’ absolute reference in this kind of music!

Best bands: Geistform, Yura Yura, Sans-Fin, Katran, Heimstatt Yipotash, Talvekoidik.

Rate: (8).

Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-techno.

Background/Info: Spanish music architect Rafael M. Espinosa is now active for nearly twenty years and can look back to a real qualitative discography. This double album is his seventh full length to date delivering a total amount of twenty five new cuts.

Content: I like most of Geistform’s releases and the previous one “Transmitter” (2016) was an interesting fusion between industrial and techno. “United Radiations” goes a step further and becomes more techno driven although revealing the industrial background of the artist. His analogue sound treatments have something special, which is that much different from the ‘average’ artist in the genre. This is music to dance to, but which is regularly featuring hostile atmospheres.

+ + + : I didn’t really need a new confirmation that techno- and industrial music can be perfectly complementary. But Geistform is much more than simply a project experimenting with these influences. Espinosa is a genius composer creating unique sound treatments and that’s what comes through in this danceable opus. Dark-techno made with intelligence could be the perfect statement to illustrate his work. It’s a unique sound elevating the techno style to a higher dimension.

– – – : What I liked at his previous work is that Espinosa never neglected his ‘industrial’ roots. And even if this new work remains carried by dark sound treatments and industrial elements, it’s sometimes a bit too explicitly techno minded. This might be a dangerous border…

Conclusion: If you want to transpose your energy on the dancefloor, “United Radiations” might be the perfect stuff to get you into a frenetic dance for more than two hours!

Best songs: “Vertical Horizon”, “Gravity Probe”, “Permafrost”, “Pulse Frequency” + “Quasar”, “Tundra”, “Perturbation”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Geistform

Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, industrial-body-music, power-noise, acid, dark-techno.

Background/Info: Serbian duo Darko Kolar – Boris Brenecki have released an impressive number of EP’s and 2 full lengths plus an album together with Dronelock. “Afflux” is not exactly a new opus, but a fine selection of songs the band released in between 2014 and 2018 on vinyl.

Content: Ontal deals with progressive industrial music, which features multiple other influences. The fusion with techno music is quite evident, but these tracks also reveal several cuts carried by solid EBM-like bass lines. A few other cuts have been mixed with acid treatments.

The last tracts are remixes by Geistform, New Frames and Unhuman.

+ + + : I’ve been familiar with the Ontal sound for several years now, but I didn’t know all of their EP’s. And I must say there are some real nice surprises featured on this work. I especially like the fat EBM bass lines running through songs as “Combast Engineering” and “Taphonomy”. The acid sequences are pretty cool as well, revealing the open-minded spectrum of this formation. Ontal stands for an original and refreshing industrial format. I wasn’t surprised that they asked another visionary artist such as Geistform to remix one of their songs and here again it’s a brilliant version, which stands for intelligent dark-techno music. The remix by New Frames is another noticeable cut.

– – – : As on most releases there’re a few cuts, which can’t totally convince for being unaccomplished.

Conclusion: This album is a kind of ‘best of’ featuring songs that were previously released on vinyl. This CD format is an opportunity to discover little sonic treasures so in the end this is for sure my favorite Ontal album so far.

Best songs: “Combat Engineering”, “Reverting”, “Function – Geistform Remix”, “Penetration”, “Critical Path Method”, “Mehanizam – New frames Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/ontalmusic

Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, powernoise, IDM, industrial-trance, industrial-techno.

Background/Info: “Forms Of Hands” became a recognized and successful label festival, which each year again reveals some of the hottest industrial formations from the Hands roster plus a few ‘new’ projects. The festival took place in April and was spread over two days reassembling 14 bands. The “Forms Of Hands” compilation series is a way to get back to this great happening revealing the 14 bands from the festival.

Bands: Winterkälte, Orphx, Geistform, Greyhound, MS Gentur, SKET, New frames, Heimstatt Yipotash, Hysteresis, Last Days Of S.E.X., Tomohiko Sagae, Saturmzlide, Dirty K, Kaibun.

Content: Hands is one of the absolute leading labels from the industrial music. The label also became a host for innovating bands, which are very appealing to an industrial audience. This sampler perfectly represents the sonic horizon of the German label.

This is not just ‘industrial’, but often a mix with techno or trance for some of the most ‘progressive’ bands, a move back to industrial roots revealing heavy power-noise driven bands, or some projects mixing industrial with noise and experimental treatments. From rough and unpolished tracks to more sophisticated and high-tech pieces this new series again has a lot to offer.

+ + + : We all will have our favorite industrial styles and bands, but this great selection of bands only confirms the leading status of the label from Dortmund. From the transcendental power-noise Dirty K to the newest signing Tomohiko Sagae who clearly reveals to be a merciless industrial-trance & noise freak to the d’n’b core experiment by Hysteresis to the technoid experiments by intelligent artists such as Geistform, Kaibun and of course Orphx to the industrial-trance of Heimstatt Yipotash and Greyhound to the more classical power-noise sounds of Winterkälte and MS Gentur there definitely is a lot to experience and to get wild of. Tomohiko Sagae and New Frames (new project by Mathis Mootz aka Panacea) both are the ‘new comers’ and in a way discoveries from the sampler.

– – – : I can imagine some early Hands-addicts will maybe regret the some of the technoid influences on several bands, but I’m afraid this is a natural and probably logical evolution industrial music has to go through.

Conclusion: This sampler once again reveals a great sonic cocktail from some of the finest Hands bands.

Best bands: Orphx, Greyhound, Geistform, Kaibun, Saturmzlide.

Rate: (8).

Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

It’s now 27 years ago that Dirk Ivens (the legendary singer of The Klinik) took the world by surprise unleashing the self-titled debut album “DIVE”. The sound revealed a heavy, industrial and unpolished production mixed with  charismatic vocals. This work was the debut of a successful career featuring numerous great albums and essential songs. The music remained dark and industrial, but still featuring electronic treatments. But after the “Behind The Sun”-album (2004) the fans had to wait for 13 years to get new studio material. “Underneath” has been released on Out Of Line and is featuring good-old guest contributor Ivan Iusco (Nightmare Lodge and owner of Minus Habens Records) and Rafael M. Espinosa (Geistform) who already collaborated on “Behind The Sun”.

You can order the latest Dive releases right here on vinyl.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Did you ever thought to come back with a new Dive-album and what was the ‘click’ to start working again on new stuff?

Dirk: . After the definitive chapter to stop The Klinik from my side and the decision to take a long break with Absolute Body Control after the intensive touring, I suddenly realized I had all the time of the world to work in all quietness and peace on a new DIVE album. People asked me for years about new material and I realized it was more than a decade ago since the last album “Behind The Sun”.

Q: What kind of album did you’d in mind (sound- & lyrical wise) when starting the composition of “Underneath”?

Dirk: The ingredients are always the same; dark atmospheric electronics with a haunting voice. Of course there was a lot happening in the world during the last decade. We got confronted with terrorism, which is heavy cutting in the minds of Western people. The world will never be the same as we knew it and I try to capture that image and feelings also in my lyrics.

Q: You asked Ivan Iusco and Rafael M. Espinosa to help a hand. What’s the real impact of both musicians on “Underneath”, which according to me became your most accomplished album ever?

Dirk: As a non-musician I like to work together with other people otherwise every album would sound like the first DIVE record. With Ivan I used to work a lot in the past and with Rafael I collaborated on the last one. This time I asked them both to send music in the style that would fit in the DIVE concept, we discussed about the tracks and made changes where needed, I wrote the lyrics and did the singing. Beside that I also composed a few tracks and this way of working is perfect because this brings variety in sound and structures and keeps it very interesting. On stage DIVE is and will always be a one man project, but on recordings I always worked together with others.

Q: “Underneath” also sounds as a refreshing work and a kind of antidote to all dark-electro and industrial-like bands which all sound pretty similar to each other. What’s your perception of the ‘scene’ today?

Dirk: I don’t listen that much to other electronic bands because there is not much development in that genre, everything has been already done thousands times before. Originality is the keyword, bands like Twice A Man or Portion Control are still making excellent albums, but most of the younger generation sounds like a copy of Nitzer Ebb or DAF, really not my thing. For the “Underneath” album I went to a factory and recorded the banging noise on my discman, just like during the old days. So, be creative instead of using all the same sounds.

Q: I noticed there’re 27 (!) years between your self-titled debut-album and “Underneath”. How would you analyze the evolution of Dive throughout the years and what does it mean to you as an artist/performer?

Dirk: The very first DIVE gig was indeed in 1990, it’s unbelievable how time runs fast. For me music is the red wire in life, I feel like a fortunate person who could do musically what I wanted to do with all of my projects. I have seen a lot of technologic changes, from recording on two track tape desks to digital with all formats in between. The world changed and so do I, my wish is to continue another 3 years and celebrate 30 years of DIVE on stage, a nice way to end this story, right?

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-industrial.

Background/Info: Dive aka Dirk Ivens (The Klinik, Absolute Body Control, Sonar, Blok 57) is back with his legendary solo-project. While many industrial lovers thought that Dive would never again release a new opus, “Underneath” comes to break the silence after 13 years. Ivens asked some good-old collaborators to join in for this new adventure. Ivan Iusco (Nightmare Lodge and Minus Habens owner) plus Rafael M. Espinosa (Geistform) contributed to this new work featuring 10 fresh songs. “Underneath” also is the first new studio album released on Out Of Line.

Content: If you’re familiar with the electro-industrial sound of Dive this album will sound pretty familiar. “Underneath” is based on the good-old sound formula mixing electro-minimalism and harsh industrial rhythms. During the 90s Dive was a revolutionary artist although inspired by the industrial work of  Esplendor Geometrico, and also influenced by legendary artists Suicide and Fad Gadget.

“Underneath” doesn’t sound that different although it’s without a shadow of a doubt the most elaborated work in Dive’s discography. The duo Iuso – Espinosa sound like they’re simply part of Dive. This work is pure electro-minimalism carried by vintage sound treatments and the charismatic, spooky and sensual vocals of Dirk Ivens.

+ + + : I honestly was a bit skeptical when listening to this album, but Dive took me by surprise. The album sounds dark, sometimes a bit tormented, always danceable through the heavy, industrial kicks and pure vintage-like with the magic of the electronic treatments. Time is passing by, but the vocals of Ivens have never been better. This work reveals numerous great songs and no doubt about it you here will find some new tracks that will enter into history. “Let Me In” is probably one of the most unusual Dive songs I’ve heard, but still one of the most sophisticated ones. It’s pure innovation and carried by brilliant, minimal sounds.

– – – : Some tracks are maybe a little too short, but it always has been a kind of trademark of the artist. Among the 10 songs there’s just “A Man Came”, which can’t convince me.

Conclusion: Dive is back with a new album and that’s already a major thing! The bad news for ‘young’ artists is that this electro veteran is showing them how you compose a creative, intelligent and efficient work!

Best songs: “Let Me In”, “Sacred Skin”, “Far Away”, “Something”, “I Want You”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: www.dirkivens.com / www.facebook.com/dirk.ivens.3

Label: www.outofline.de  / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-techno, minimal-techno-industrial.

Background/Info: Rafael Espinosa better known under the Geistform moniker is an artist I discovered in 2002 on his debut album “Uno” released on Dirk Ivens’ label Daft Records. The Spanish artist never stopped releasing new productions, improving his writing and evolving in sound and influences. Hands became a comfortable home for Geistform where he’s now releasing his albums, and also the surprising vinyl 12” “Tension” in 2015.

Content: “Transmitter” moves on there where the album “Data Transmission” (already released 4 years ago now) left off and where the last year released vinyl “Tension” moved on with. The influence of techno music became an essential element of this artist although it remains driven by dark atmospheres and minimal noisy sequences.

The debut cuts are quite elaborate revealing some overwhelming sound blasts and vibrating noises. And just at the point where I got the impression that “Transmitter” was a bit stagnating Geistform moves on with a few transcendental pieces creating an effect of a total climax.

+ + + : “Transmitter” is one more production confirming the short distance between industrial- and techno music. The techno loops have been merged with raw and somewhat unpolished noises while carried by a monstrous sound production. There’s a great opening part, but especially the last 3 tracks left me breathless. Geistform  moves into a total trance approach.

– – – : No doubt about it, early Geistform fans will have some difficulties embracing the new album, which clearly sounds seriously contaminated by the techno virus. I don’t see it as a problem rather than an interesting point of discussion. I just regret a few tracks somewhere in the midst of the production, which sound a bit average-like.

Conclusion: “Transmitter” is addicted to techno music, but without neglecting the industrial roots. The result is an ultra danceable production for dark dancefloors.

Best songs: “Spear”, “Transmitter”, “Receptor”, “Redshift”, “Ratan 600”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.facebook.com/Geistform

Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-techno, dark-techno.

Content: Geistform is one of those noise engineers I was immediately convinced by. Rafael M. Espinosa has this particular feeling to decompose and recreate sounds, which can’t leave you unmoved. He released impressive studio albums mixing industrial and IDM, but the main force of this project always remained the unique analogue vibes emerging from the composition.

Geistform is now back on track with a vinyl 12” featuring 4 new songs. The main influences running through this work are a little bit different and clearly worked out for the dancefloors. “Tension” indeed stands for Geistform going techno although I have to reassure the fans it’s not a cheap and boring techno format.

Geistform remains animated by darkness and fascinated by the passion of sound manipulation. The result is high danceable piece of music, which can be defined as minimal industrial-techno music.

The title song is a great opener, which brings us directly into the flow while the trance loops are empowering the danceability of the track.

“Attractor” coming up next is not only a minimal-minded composition, but you here will recognize the subtle sound intelligence of this alchemist. This is a great song.

The B-side confirms the obscure side of the work mixed by the dance-intelligence and industrial touch. Geistform remains devoted to underground music and “Interaction” is a track that can’t leave you unmoved. The dark dance vibes feel like a command to bring you to move! “Dark Matter” is a rather symbolic title for the global sphere hanging over this work. It sounds more linear although still punchy.

Conclusion: “Tension” is one more release bringing opposite poles like industrial music and techno closer with each other. It’s a sophisticated industrial-techno music meant to set dancefloors on fire!

Best songs: “Attractor”, “Tension”, “Interaction”.

Rate: (DP:8½)DP.

Band: www.facebook.com/Geistform

Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com