(07.10.08) A long-time supporter of the New York City industrial music scene, Lenny B – otherwise known as DJ Wintermute – finally releases his debut CD under the Cenotype moniker. Full of aggressive, no compromises industrial music with dark ambient undercurrents, Origins recognises the early Daft, Ant-Zen and Hymen releases that inspired its creation.
Opening with the almost 11 minute “Sinking,” Origins begins with a lengthy introductory track that provides an ominous taste of what is to come; dark droning ambience and industrial in a very literal sense, the album opener is dark and taunts with what is to follow. Followed by the relentless pounding, scraping beats of “Save Me,” Origins gets down to business in no time. Hard, punishing and dark, Lenny B introduces his own brand of industrial dance music that while it is relentless and uncompromising, is also energetic, infectious and hypnotic. Once the onslaught begins there is no stopping it, each track is as hard, pulsating and addictive as the last; full of pounding floor-shaking bass, stomping beats and strong industrial influences. Acting as an interlude to the barrage of industrial beats are the dark ambient pieces “Think It and It Will Be” and “Justice”. “Think It and It Will Be” is a dark, murky maelstrom of otherworldly sounds punctuated with an occasional female narrative and bursts of crackling, bassy interference. “Justice” on the other hand is very much drone-based with deep humming tones and short passages of suitably angry lyrics/vocals from Leech of Navicon Torture Technologies, all building in a massive wall of droning layered noise with Leech’s snarling distorted vocals still peeking through the haze. Besides acting as a break from the industrial onslaught, both of these tracks also hint at another side to Lenny B’s ability; the dark ambient influences are there throughout but both “Sinking” and “Think It and It Will Be” show that he could also be skilled in this genre too. “Justice” is a slightly different prospect as, although it also deviates from the industrial dance theme of the majority of tracks on the album it is very much based around drones and dark walls of noise.
What all three of these tracks illustrate is that the hard industrial music that dominates this album – as good as it is – is not all that Lenny B is capable of and hints at what we might see more of in the future. Sitting somewhere between dark and rhythmic is “Is,” a track with demonic undertones, a choral/orchestral theme and relatively restrained echoing bassy beats that portray a slightly less aggressive attitude with more emphasis on the subtler aspects that are usually obscured. The pounding bass and industrial elements are still there but held back just a little to let its ambient qualities shine through. Introducing yet another variant to the mix is “She’s Dead…Requiem,” which maintains the dark, slightly ethereal, ambient backdrop and beat onslaught but pairs it with a metallic industrial noise aspects that start to take it away from the addictive dance sound experienced on other tracks and into more experimental dance territory. The refreshing thing about Origins is that Lenny B is not content with sticking to a winning formula and is pushing boundaries with some of the tracks on the album.
Hive Records once again introduce a very promising “new” act to the listening public and again show why they are one of the leading labels in this genre. Origins is a very strong debut for Lenny B and sets a benchmark for his future releases. It is hard, rhythmic, infectious and euphoric, even taking time to introduce some quite different aspects of Lenny B’s repertoire that would be interesting to see him explore further in the future, either under this or another moniker.
Origins is out now on Hive. [Purchase
