Lucys Drowning - Nevermore (demo)
Independant release - 2001
By Philip Whitehouse
At last! An album that shows some true imagination and creativity! And it's only in the demo stage to boot!
Lucys Drowning have created something special in this. Using the medium of industrial rock filtered through drum 'n' bass dynamic, they have created an album that manages to convey to me a vivid picture of what the inside of a cyborg's head would sound like if it was going through a complete mental breakdown.
Through bass-heavy, fuzzy drum-loops, samples, deep vocals, guitar riffs that sound constructed out of static electricity given melody and only the best industrial embellishments, Lucys Drowning convey an atmosphere of sinister psychosis, at some times painfully melancholy, at others anguished, frustrated and furious.
The album begins with 'Alone', which itself kicks off with a fast-paced, driving drum loop protruding through a thick layering of bass fuzz, before dropping into a more crunching and less furious rhythm. It follows up with 'Planet X', a song that recalls Nine Inch Nails circa 'Pretty Hate Machine' but contains a guitar riff that Trent Reznor would kill to have written.
Later highlights include the frightening but sorrowful 'Funeral', and the seemingly schizophrenic 'A Moment Of Clarity' - in this track, a bizarre midsection mixes a typical drum 'n' bass loop over some utterly weird samples before dropping straight into a slow, fuzzy and sinister guitar-riff and chorus.
Lucys Drowning do nearly come unstuck at one point - fourth track 'Digital Voice' is, to my ears, a shade too morose and downbeat. Not so much the music, which is as atmospheric and affecting as on the rest of the album, but more so the vocals, which seem to drop so low as to be atonal. This is presumably a deliberate, but possibly unwise decision.
Apart from this one minor hiccup, however, Lucys Drowning are possibly the most promising newcomers I have heard so far. They have the potential to take the industrial scene by storm, and deservedly so.
Independant release - 2001
By Philip Whitehouse
At last! An album that shows some true imagination and creativity! And it's only in the demo stage to boot!
Lucys Drowning have created something special in this. Using the medium of industrial rock filtered through drum 'n' bass dynamic, they have created an album that manages to convey to me a vivid picture of what the inside of a cyborg's head would sound like if it was going through a complete mental breakdown.
Through bass-heavy, fuzzy drum-loops, samples, deep vocals, guitar riffs that sound constructed out of static electricity given melody and only the best industrial embellishments, Lucys Drowning convey an atmosphere of sinister psychosis, at some times painfully melancholy, at others anguished, frustrated and furious.
The album begins with 'Alone', which itself kicks off with a fast-paced, driving drum loop protruding through a thick layering of bass fuzz, before dropping into a more crunching and less furious rhythm. It follows up with 'Planet X', a song that recalls Nine Inch Nails circa 'Pretty Hate Machine' but contains a guitar riff that Trent Reznor would kill to have written.
Later highlights include the frightening but sorrowful 'Funeral', and the seemingly schizophrenic 'A Moment Of Clarity' - in this track, a bizarre midsection mixes a typical drum 'n' bass loop over some utterly weird samples before dropping straight into a slow, fuzzy and sinister guitar-riff and chorus.
Lucys Drowning do nearly come unstuck at one point - fourth track 'Digital Voice' is, to my ears, a shade too morose and downbeat. Not so much the music, which is as atmospheric and affecting as on the rest of the album, but more so the vocals, which seem to drop so low as to be atonal. This is presumably a deliberate, but possibly unwise decision.
Apart from this one minor hiccup, however, Lucys Drowning are possibly the most promising newcomers I have heard so far. They have the potential to take the industrial scene by storm, and deservedly so.
