LA1000 – zeta_reticuli

LA1000 explores a classic industrial paranoia on the engrossing “zeta_reticuli”. Physicality reigns supreme for this is a confrontational, uneasy sound. Grooves go for the jugular as they set the mood as well as offer a unique, strangely alluring style. Industrial to its very core, LA1000 incorporates elements of No Wave, punk, dance, and hard rock. Never moving too quickly they remain focused upon atmospherics. This approach yields great fruit in the form of outright gorgeous metallic clangs courtesy of the emotionally-laden drums, the tortured synthesizers, languid yet insistent bass, and the twisted gnarled wreckage of guitar riffs pushed to their breaking point. By far though the true heart and soul comes from the clever, cryptic vocals that adorn it all.
Influences abound throughout. Clear nods to Nine Inch Nails’ early works inform their darkest impulses. Beyond the sonic influence, his ability to arrange the entire thing by himself, playing every instrument, doing it as a perfectly realized singular vision, further reinforces the Nine Inch Nails vein that seems to underly the whole of the work. On the more chaotic (psychotic) moments they tap into early lo-fi experiments of Cabaret Voltaire. Distortion leads them into unexpected sources, as the intense delivery and tremendous intensity at times draws from Scratch Acid.
“tiny_machines” starts things with a hint of venom. His voice has a creepy, eerie presence to it. The skin-crawling flavor of the delivery works wonders alongside the spacious guitar work and tribal percussion, akin to recalling an unsettling dream. With “back_engineers” things have a disoriented quality. Multiple vocal styles come together, from the dramatic to the bone dry. By allowing these all to merge into a singular whole the song grows ever larger and ever more menacing. Little glowing noise from right outside the listener’s periphery further lends the song a spirit of uncertainty.
A cold wave spirit defines “s_4”. The stark, brutal synthesizer stabs have a harsh minimalism about them. Easily the highlight of the collection comes from the threatening aura of “erased_”. Catchy grooves add to the ever-growing accusations that the lyrics convey. Insistent bass serves as the backbone of it all, with the precise drumming working wonders. Lumbering forward the collection comes to a ceremonious close on the stately gestures of “e_sum” which feels surprising regal at times, even if in a tortured fashion.
“zeta_reticuli” shows off the intense nature of LA1000 in creating a swirling sea of tension, for which he offers no relief, only a descent into the darkness.