Alberich / Lussuria

Alberich / Lussuria

Borgia

Hospital Productions

***Following on from that hugely sought-after Green Graves issue by Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement (2016), Hospital Productions re-examine a longstanding tradition of industrial ambient music on this exceptional collaboration between two of the label's most consistently innovative, highly absorbing producers. Originally released in a private press run of handmade tapes in 2016, the collaboration was made in person with both Alberich and Lussuria making use of digital synths in homage to that distinctly European scene of the mid '90s that combined hardcore industrial textures with ambient pulses. It's a sound you'll be familiar with if you've immersed yourself in the most unnervingly quiet sections of the last few Prurient albums, building a kind of futuristic soundscape situated somewhere between David Lynch, Kevin Drumm, and a more dystopian variant of Brad Fiedel's distinctive soundtrack to The Terminator (1984). Alberich's instinct for harsh propulsive rhythms is tempered here by Lussuria's weird topography, the digital rendering adding a kind of artificial foundation quite removed from the throbbing earthiness you'd find on a hardware session. Instead, the more linear trajectory of so many dark ambient excursions is replaced with a constantly shifting landscape, veering from an oddly displaced vocal narrative into pounded, crumbling rhythms at some points, while those sinking sub bass sands keep things resolutely atmospheric for the duration. There are no concessions to that blackened aesthetic here, if you were into Green Graves or want to immerse yourself in one of the most brutally atmospheric albums you'll hear this year, check this out....