SYNTECH

One of the newer bands on Hands, Steffen Lehmann has nonetheless more fame with his heavy, rhythmic industrial project Greyhound, good for already four albums on Hands. Slow but relentlessly pounding rhythms are what Greyhound is all about and this can also be heard on Syntech.

The extra dimension are the tribal and old school percussions that accompany these throbbing beats. Sometimes the percussions are wild and chaotic, a reminder of old Test Dept or SPK ("Blackest Night Sirens", "Congenial Spirit", "Dying Of Forest"). When the tribal character stands out you could compare it to the more rhythmic songs (not the dark ambient) of Empusae ("Phraa Jaan Naak", "Phi Ton Mai", "Wacah Chan").

Proving the high standard: despite being almost 80 minutes long, the CD never gets boring. There are enough subtle changes in the music to keep you interested, various layers of sound, ensuring there is a lot to be discovered! For instance, "Shy" has a French feel about it with some hints of a saxophone, the calmer ambient rhythms in"Whiteout" are a sharp contrast with the last song, the very energetic bomb "It Is Not My Problem".

Live Steffen gets support from Ben Lukas Boysen of ambient/idm/dubstep band Hecq. The cover is as usual by Nicola Bork. Sometimes his artwork can be predictable but here he creates a very fitting image for this soundtrack of a destroyed and hostile planet.

Highly recommended!

Hands Productions

Chris KONINGS
16/12/2011