It’s obvious that this pair didn’t come to techno in the usual way, their music (and inner labels) tell of a punk past. They’ve come to their audio expression via thrash guitar and the mosh pit, a same devil-may-care attitude that is now being communicated through machines with fierce results.
I didn’t come to industrial techno from the bangers of Berlin or Birmingham. Instead it has been the work of Luciano Lamanna that has twisted by ear towards the tougher side of the spectrum.
Fair enough, dubbing this Italian as “industrial techno” is pretty two dimensional; but the he does have a heavy hand when it comes to beats and a rawness coursing through his cables. Yet his latest outing, a split release with fellow countryman and sometimes partner in crime Cosimo Damiano (as Assalti Industriali), shows another side to his sound.
“Contropotere” is beast not quite part of Lamanna’s usual menagerie. Born out of body music, a wet snare keeps time. Brutish bass lines arrive, pounding the floor as melodies slide past scales. Sitting somewhere between the sound of Belgium and the Djax fury of The Netherlands, the track bulges out of its skin as keys circle and percussion attacks. “DDT” is a more familiar beast. Thump and claw rinsed in sinister synth stabs.
Damiano’s “Classico” is “DDT”’s brother in arms. A thick 4/4 pattern thunders, strung out 303 gurgle groaning with distortion. Although the track burns with acidic anger, there’s also a lightness lying behind those infuriated chords. “Scrap Metal & P” is a more reserved piece, echoing is more recent work on La Beaute Du Negatif. A tension runs through the close, speared notes falling on a jagged bed skittering drums, that is never fully unleashed.
It’s obvious that this pair didn’t come to techno in the usual way, their music (and inner labels) tell of a punk past. They’ve come to their audio expression via thrash guitar and the mosh pit, a same devil-may-care attitude that is now being communicated through machines with fierce results.
LB19 is available on Love Blast.
