In 1999, Slovakia saw the birth of electro-industrial group, Last Influence Of Brain. This year has started off with the release of a new album, Insomnicons after a silence of almost ten years.
L.I.O.B. (Last Influence Of Brain) is made up of three members who are mysteriously only known as Blazena, Solo and…..Bob. Not much else is known about them other than they are in other projects. Their previous album was Two Faces before their hiatus and they are featured on the Slovakian record label Alien Productions.
“Twone” might be something you need. This goes from grinding vocals to bright and light synths which are a almost a contrast of dark and light. The beat continues to build and swell. This is just the beginning and it’s started well. In the Urban Dictionary, Twone is described as ‘a phrase that silences participants‘.
The second track, “Invasion/Introverted” just smacks of all the things that are best about Leæther Strip, punched out lyrics and a beat you can bounce to.
This is a great song with its intensity and wonderful synth cascade that crashes down on you with “Idolatry“. It rivals the sound of Frontline Assembly with the finesse of Leæther Strip.
“Binarea” is heavy and wanting to force the rhythm straight down your throat at the start. The beat at times almost resembles a machine gun going off. It’s like a lethal game show and where they are taking us no one knows.
Khonsu was the Egyptian god of the Moon, who was especially worshipped at the holy city of Thebes. “Khonsu Again On His Eternal Path” is about the journey this deity takes across the sky, bringing the tides, marking the seasons and future telling with foreboding signs. To reflect this the music does feel otherworldly, space like, consistently traveling.
As we discuss the Moon, we have the track “Sedimental (In The Mare Nubium)“. The Mare is within the Nubium crater which is on the visible side of the Moon. The staccato, grained vocals punctuate through the electronic noise. The Moon will reek it’s toll on the mental faculties.
Dark and forbidding is “Hypnosphere” made all the more so with a small child crying for mummy and then sounding like a demon from the darkest recesses of hell. This is reminiscent of Skinny Puppy both vocally and musically.
There is a slightly experiemental to “Duality“. Purposeful and almost ambient as it winds itself into your brain. It is angst and beautiful all at the same time. This is emotional and poignant with so much depth.
Not sure what a moonster is but this is a “Broken Moonster” and the dynamics between those heavy vocals and light synths make this very listenable. Possibly it’s due to the weaving harmonies you perceive, as delicate as spider webs.
Almost a busy hip hop feel to the beginning of “Necrotopia“. This loops back with an almost delicate rhythm that harkens back to Skinny Puppy’s “Protest” . For a song about a nirvana for death, this is very much alive.
With that understated slower pace that L.I.O.B seem to be masters of, they are taking you away to the “E-Sylum“. They growl about pressure and progress as the music backs this up with it’s own version of expanding noise. Yet it is almost cool and distant.
“Twone” gets a remix by award winning industrial composer and producer Ken ‘Hiwatt’ Marshall which at the start is a tad creepy before finding a techno style beat. This is a great remix to tie up the album.
L.I.O.B are an anomaly. They sound traditional harsh industrial and yet they, in many ways are not. They obviously like to create atmosphere and this comes off as being almost dark ambient in its style.
This is a great come back album and if you are a fan of 90’s Skinny Puppy and other older acts such as Leæther Strip and especially Frontline Assembly then I can highly recommend Last Influence Of Brain and their newest creation, Insomnicons.
https://aliensproduction.bandcamp.com/album/insomnicons
Onyx Music Reviews 