Deflore- Human Indu[b]strial

Artist: Deflore
CD Title: Human Indu[b]strial
Label: SubSound Records
Reviewer: Matthew Johnson
Date: 12/15/05

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.

Visit Deflore online at www.deflore.com for more information.