Genre/Influences: Rhythmic-Noise, Industrial.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Steffen Lehmann is now active for more than twenty years under the Greyhound moniker -while he’s also involved with Syntech. “Insomnia” is the ninth official album by the German sonic terrorist. 

Content: You wont be not surprised to discover this work which sounds in the hardest and purest tradition of Greyhound. Heavy Rhythmic-Noise transposed into hard, repetitive, loops which are sometimes spiced with spoken samplings. The power has an elevating effect which comes to an apotheosis during the last part of the album.

+ + + : Greyhound remains a warrant for merciless music; the antithesis to sweet Pop tunes, but music driven by rage and heavy noises, howeverGreyhound has evolved throughout the years becoming closer to perverted Techno-Industrial music resulting in transcendental passages. The last tracks are especially ultra-powerful. “Bloodsuckers” and “Assimilation” will drive you crazy.

– – – : The title track is one of the softer pieces and not entirely representative for the rest of the album.Greyhound remains driven by a predictable formula but who cares when it’s great.

Conclusion: Greyhound is a sonic oghre coming out of your speakers like an avalanche!

Best songs: “Bloodsuckers”, “Assimilation”, “In What We Overestimate Ourselves”, “Stay Lonely”, “Black coffee”.

Rate: 8½. 

Artist: www.facebook.com/Greyhound.Syntech

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

About Greyhound

Greyhound is the rhythmic-noise and industrial project of German musician Steffen Lehmann, active for more than twenty years alongside his Syntech project. The eighth Greyhound album, “A Storm Is Coming”, was released via Hands in 2020 with production assistance from Björn Boysen, as Lehmann detailed in a Click Interview with Side-Line. “Insomnia” follows as the ninth full-length under the Greyhound name.

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

Steffen Lehmann is now terrorizing us for nearly twenty years. His Greyhound project is one of the hardest projects from the Hands roster, but it also became a kind of flagholder. “A Storm Is Coming” has been released on Hands again. Steffen Lehmann got assisted by Björn Boysen. They both accomplished Greyhound’s eighth official full length, which is revealing the familiar merciless rhythmic-noise elements, but still a few more subtle sound treatments. 2019 has been a prolific year for Steffen Lehmann who also released a new opus of his Syntech project.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I can’t remember a title of an album has been more appropriated to define your music as the new one: “A Storm Is Coming”. What’s the link between the title and your music and what have been your main purposes when composing this work?

Steffen: The time “A Storm Is Coming“ was produced I was facing several disappointments. Promises, which weren’t kept. People who showed unexpected sites of themselves. Hopes combined with expectations, which didn’t became true. All of that has a big influence on the result of the album. Greyhound is my all-time valve to find an exit to all these kind of problems. The current album shows a detailed reflection of my mind during the production-time.

Q: What have been the different stages you’d to go through to compose and achieve “A Storm Is Coming”?

Steffen: Every track starts with producing, experimenting and manipulating several sounds and beats. After a specific time I got usually the initial idea how it should further develop. As the track gets shape I am in a state of euphoria. At this points Björn comes in for further ideas and does the final mixing. It can take days till weeks to complete a track. In the end, only the tracks that are selected for the album get mastered.

Q: The songs are once more driven by furious rhythms and noise loops, but I also experienced –and maybe for the very first time, some subtle electronic sequences and minimal arrangements in the background. Tell us a bit more about it and does this work feels as the most accomplished- and intelligent one?

Steffen: We listen to many different styles of electronic music, but I love rhythm’n’noise. Impulsive, distorted and energetic rhythms are my all-time-favorites. But you’re right. As the own taste for music develops, changes and variations are influencing the way Greyhound finally sound. It has its charm to implement unexpected sequences and arrangements to change the usual sound impression. The work on Syntech has its influence, too. In the tracks “Escape“, “All Complicated“ or “Hope Dies Last“ it is clearly recognizable. At least for me. I can’t say if this is a sign for an intelligent album, but it sounds ‘right’ to me.

Q: What are the criteria and eventually references you’re using to know a Greyhound-song/album is finished or not? What does a song need to consider it’s finished or do you as artist think a song is never finished?

Steffen: This question is not easy to answer. If a new track is done, I let pass some time until it gets my full attention again. At the end there are three options: 1. I am convinced and it gets only some final refinement. 2. It is not finished, but has potential. So the work on it continues. 3. I don’t like the track anymore. Then it becomes deleted. A Greyhound-track needs always a specific complexity and progressivity. If a track is too tame or too dense, then Björn smashes his critic at my head.

Sure, a track could be edited for an infinite time and it seems that the work on it comes not to an end. Every change on it makes a new track of it. As the time flies and new influences come in, my own recognition of a track changes. And yes, there are Greyhound-tracks I would produce a different way, because of actual possibilities and musical preferences. But these tracks are a completed chapter and representative for the time they were produced. I prefer to look ahead and realize new ideas in new tracks.

Q: I noticed more and more ‘industrial’ and ‘rhythmic-noise’ projects are mixing their sound with hard-techno music. What do you think about this evolution and the impact of techno on other genres and more specifically industrial music today?

Steffen: That is a delicate question, as the definition of industrial-music always was a controversial discussion. In my opinion there is no rule, how to create industrial-music. And if people like industrial-music with a hard-techno-sound, then it is the right industrial-music for them. Personally it isn’t my cup of tea and I prefer more complex rhythm-structures. Technoid elements can be the salt in the soup, but too much of it make it inedible for me.

Q: You this year also released a new Syntech-album. How do you manage the switch from one project to the other and do you feel some differences in the ‘spirit’ and your own mood when working on Greyhound or on Syntech?

Steffen:That’s right, with “Shadows Above Me“ there is a new Syntech-release after 4 years. To switch from one project to the other is not that difficult for me, as every project gets my full attention when I work on it. The approach is also different. I can’t tell you if I have different spirit when I work on Syntech. Perhaps this is a point my personal environment only could answer

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-tribal, industrial-cinematic. 

Background/Info: We had to wait five years to get the fifth album by Syntech. Steffen Lehmann has been really prolific this year as next to the new Greyhound-album he also gets back to Syntech.

Content: Syntech is totally different from Greyhound although both projects will for sure appeal for industrial music lovers. This project is more characterized by tribal patterns and that’s again what this new work offers. We get a rather constant industrial-tribal exposure, which is intermixed with a few more elements. From slower rhythmic passages to heavier pieces at the end of the work, this album covers a wide spectrum of industrial music. The beauty of the work is often hidden in details, which makes the refinement of the work. 

+ + + : Syntech is back and that’s a damned good thing. I always have liked this project for its tribal approach, which is rather rare in the industrial scene. So the music remains original! The tracklist is progressively evolving from pure industrial-tribal towards sensual passages to heavy outbursts at the end. The songs have something elevating and I especially recommend listening to “Internal Scream”, “The Trip” and “What Remains”. Another attention grabber is “What Are You Waiting For” characterized by real strong kind of trumpet sound making the originality of the song. 

– – – : I can’t say this is my favorite Syntech-album, but the album is not a simple emulation of previous works and that’s a detail I appreciate!

Conclusion: There are  projects that make me happy when they finally have a new work out and Syntech is one of them. This is not the best Syntech-work from the discography, but it remains a well-crafted and intelligent production!

Best songs: “What Remains”, “The Trip”, “What Are You Waiting For”, “Internal Scream”, “The Signs Are Everywhere”, “In The Distance”. 

Rate: (8½). 

Artist: www.facebook.com/Greyhound.Syntech 

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: Power-noise, rhythmic-noise.

Background/Info: Steffen Lehmann is terrorizing the industrial scene for numerous years now and became one of the flag holders in rhythmic-noise. He regularly switches from Greyhound to the more techno-industrial Syntech project, revealing impressive writing skills in both of his projects. “Ground” is the seventh official album for Greyhound.

Content: If you’re familiar with the merciless industrial assaults of Greyhound you already know what you’ll get. I however have to say the opening cuts are a little bit different. The tracks remain pretty hard, but also revealing a few different elements, which are more ambient-like and accomplished with cool sound effects. But quite progressively the ‘sonic monster’ is awakening and starts to produce good-old and powerful industrial music. It sounds heavy, sometimes a bit into bombast, then as a wink to one of the greatest instigators in the genre (cf. Esplendor Geometrico) and finally into transcendental rhythmic-noise waves.

+ + + : The opening songs are quite interesting for showing a more complex and elaborated approach. It’s not that Lehmann is reinventing his sound, but he clearly became a little more sophisticated. Quite progressively he invites the listeners for a deadly industrial ride made of a rough sound sculptures and sharp noises. But the main strength of this work is that it progressively brings you into trance. Steffen Lehmann is a truly industrial genius who throughout the years have somewhat polished his work with subtle noises, samplings and other little details.

– – – : The tracks become a little bit comparable after a while. The sound formula is often the same so in the long run the tracks become a little bit predictable.

Conclusion: If Greyhound was to become sex, it definitely could be associated with a gang-bang featuring 16 tracks! This is a kind of shameless, perverted sound made by a truly industrial shaman!

Best songs: “Stop Holding”, “The Space In Space”, “Sign”, “A Mature Thought”, “Run”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.facebook.com/Greyhound.Syntech

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