Deflore

hUMAN indu[B]strial Deflore Attempting to second-guess foreign languages based on what words sound like in English can be misleading. With the 'O' written like a cog on the rough, scratched metallic album sleeve, and their debut's title 'human indu[B] strial' (that reversed lettering so beloved of Warhammering designers on Myspace), I had interpreted "Deflore" to imply some kind of beastly stinking metal behemoths who make music that pops maidenheads like the anxious might bubble wrap. Yet you'd be foolish to allow this to lead you to expect an album of mogadon industrial banality. For the Italian noise-geek duo of Deflore have, in 'human indu[B]strial', created a broad-reaching, atmospheric, expansive and yet accessible instrumental noise album. The dark pendulum of 'human indu[B]strial' swings from the subsonic crushing basslines of the titans of doom to the studied geometrical noise of mathrock, and slices back through the grating paranoia of industrial noise. And what's more, that can often occur within the same piece. For example, album centrepiece 'Lexodub' has quiet periods of echoing introspection around a muted, melodic guitar line, and uses the beats for the steam-expulsion, scratching and gaspy unpleasantness, like a Euro-goth Mogwai over for a foreign exchange trip. It's a quieter counterpart to earlier track 'Experiment C-Low', which sounds like a cranky U-boat lurking beneath oily seas: half a tense, electronic wait, half lurching chords given a thorough rinsing through violent action. But it gets ever more mixed. 'Orto D-Ossa' begins with subterranean chants, meanders through some jarring, ponderous drum patterns that become ever tauter as a more ethereal, choral vocal line appears above. The very next moment is the four-and-a-half minute 'S-Zwein', which combines goth-spring-booted dance-lurches with moments of metallic minimalism, and finally, mutedly triumphant droning melody. It's like 65daysofstatic shaken hard with Neubauten, and then some. Fortissimo!, as I'd like to imagine the Italians might say. - www.playlouder.com

Deflore's debut album is also the first release of SubSound Records. This new independent label states the following: “We are not looking for any particular style or songwriting methods but we rather prefer innovation and originality as the most important aspects of arts and culture in general.” To prove their intentions, they kick off with two very powerful debut albums, one of which is Deflores “Human Indu[B]strial”.

To start of with a big minus: I’m really getting tired of all the genres and subgenres which seem to be invented on a daily basis. This new act Deflore for example claims to create ‘human indubstrial’. What ever that may mean. I even found this such an uninviting name, that it took a while for me to first listen to the release.

But when I finally placed this disc into my stereo, I was pleased to find out that Christian Ceccarelli and Emiliano Di Lodovico make music that sounds a lot like - what is known to me as - ‘mathmetal’! (You’re absolutely right, now I did the same and started throwing with subgenres…) Spiced up with some nice industrial.

So one can expect explosions of (bass)guitar violence in the same style as Cult of Luna or ISIS. Since Deflore is a duo, a lot of sounds are also produced by the computer, which makes the sound a bit more mechanical. One of the pleasant aspects of this Italian act is that it takes until the third or fourth song that you get the feeling there’s something wrong. The music is overwhelming and perfectly performed, the songs aren’t very long and therefore stay interesting and powerful. But there is no singing! Nowhere! It is an absolute good sign that it took me so long to first notice this and even after noticing my conclusion is: the lack of singing is no problem at all!
Eleven songs are presented and there isn’t a boring or repetitive moment on this record. A very nicely done doomy mood is to be found in the song ‘Home’. It gave me a pleasant My Dying Bride feeling.

Deflore is an absolute must for fans of intelligent song structures. If you are in possession of an album by Cult of Luna, ISIS or the like, then this duo is definitely worth a try.


Band:
Deflore(int)

Label:
Subsound Records

Genre:
industrial (industrial / noise / power electronics)

Type:
cd


Grade:
8


Review by:
Ergo


Website:
http://www.deflore.com/


- www.gothtronic.com

Italian instrumental project Deflore is a hard band to categorize. Their debut album is noisy and experimental, but beyond the drum programming and dark dub influences it seems influenced as much by doom metal and stoner rock as by coldwave or EBM. “More Gods Than Devils” and “Emilionero,” for example, are full of thick, sludgy guitar arrangements, and while “Lexodub” incorporates some intriguingly ominous background atmospheres, it’s still the down-tuned layers of guitar and bass that commandeer most of the attention. “Home” is more interesting, starting off with some fuzzy bass guitar before building into a sort of contemplative industrial jam session laced with dissonant harmonics and fuzzy radio broadcasts, while “Orto D-ossa” alternates brilliantly between intricate finger picking and crashing, cymbal-driven rock crescendos. The best stuff, though, is the more overtly electronic material. Although the guitars are omnipresent throughout the album, “Emostatico” and “Connect” integrate them with artful, reggae-influenced rhythms, combining experimental dub with overdriven guitar improvisation. While Deflore don’t sound like Controlled Bleeding, they employ a similar approach to eclectic instrumental arrangements, and fans of Paul Lemos’ work ought to appreciate this album. In any case, Deflore employ a refreshingly different approach to music, and this is very much worth a listen.

- www.graveconcernzine.com

If a post-apocalyptic world needed a soundtrack, Deflore's "hUMAN indu[B]strial" would be just the album for it. From the start, "Emostatico" pulls you right into a world where mental and emotional decay may as well rule supreme. "Connect" and "Experiment C-Low" continue on with what seems to be a path of self-destruction with dark and heavy riffs twisting and entwining every which way. "Emilionero" comes off like a musical version of a hot poker piercing and shattering your brain in an industrial version of Chinese water torture. Just when you think you can't handle anymore, "Lexodub" takes you from that torture chamber and tends to your everbleeding brain, with light and subtle undertones of your subconscious
falling into a nightmare that's about ready to start. "Home" seems to pickup where "Lexodub" left off by pulling you further down the dank, dark rabbithole. Upon landing, "Orto D-Ossa" leads you into a wonderneverland of sorts, with thick and tremendous beats supported by what sounds like a dark angelic choir luring you further and further away from your sanity. "S-Zwein" may as well be the theme music for a sadistic teaparty with eerie squeaks and electronic creaks. For some reason I couldn't get into "La Settima Industria". "Subsound Corporation" is the cheshire cat that leads you through the looking glass back to your sanity and reality. When you come to, logic passes it off as a mere dream, until you look into the mirror and see a dimented version of what used to be your mind.

Score: 9
Written By: Stephanie Van Auken
- Industrial Mafia Promotions