The mantle of pistons, clanking cogs and heavy machinery.
Spain, despite its lack of actual factories and mass production, has always had a history of Industrial music. This sound took on the mantle of pistons, clanking cogs and heavy machinery. One of the focal points of this brutalism are Esplendor Geométrico, the trio of Arturo Lanz, Gabriel Riaza and Juan Carlos Sastre. The band are nowadays Lanz and Saverio Evangelista. For thirty years this group have pioneered complex rhythms and metal clad arrangements. Now it’s to their homeland and Frigio Records that Esplendor Geometrico return for an EP that spans some twenty five years.
The 1989 original of “Francotirador” opens. Blackened clouds loom. A payload of distorted beats, heavy bass and jagged claps pour forth. Melody is misted by the relentless battery of mechanics. Theirs is an industrial style that cleaves into Proto-Techno, a style which was a blueprint for the likes of Aphex Twin and Autechre. Uncanny Valley’s Sneaker is up on remix duty. The Dresden man takes those ’89 beats and weaves strands of digital mesh through them. Sinister bars are married to lighter moments for a twilight take on the original. The flip is occupied by two remix collaborations, label boss Juanpablo and Frigio veteran Vinz Vincenzo. The first offering utilizes hypnotic drum patterns, layering samples for effect. Ghosting melodies amplify the isolation as snares and claps rise and fall amidst pressure fluctuations. The finale picks up where its predecessor finishes off. A last attack of brutalized beats crashing into a thick fog of chemical bass. Tough and destructive from start to finish.
I actually had the pleasure of seeing Esplendor Geométrico play live recently, an intense hour long show of jarring electronics, guttural vocals and absorbing visuals. It’s at such a live event that you can truly appreciate how pioneering this Iberian outfit have been for electronic music. Francotirador is a record that weds the first utterings of this Spanish outfit with a new cast of passionate artists. The original shakes and throbs with that same trailblazing energy it erupted with in 1989. The remixes take that same power and channel it through darkened dancefloors, sepulchral passages and re-imagined industrial landscapes.
Francotirador is available on Frigio.
