Lumen Lab – They Are Killing Us

LumenlabWEB

CD – Aagoo

Diego Martinez, aka Lumen Lab, began his musical career in 2009 at the age of fifteen, using drum machines, secondhand synths and any electronic device he could lay his hands on. His post-industrial approach, infused by noise influences, glitch and IDM, immediately earned him the title of “enfant terrible of Mexican electronic music”. The radicalism of his live acts is stark, a radicalism composed of rhythmical dissonances, unconventional aural collages, synthetic space treatments and a remarkable palette of cinematic suggestions. They Are Killing Us, released on Aagoo Records, is Martinez’ third album, a release in which the component of social, political and economic criticism is immediately evident, emphasizing how even everyday life in Mexico is closer to a real war situation than to a democracy in peacetime. The mix of sounds is powerful, triggered by metal envelopes and screaming vocals (by Chano, the voice of important bands of the Mexican crust and grindcore scene in the nineties and the new millennium as Hydrophobia and Emphysema). It also references avanthop, with anarchist and anti-capitalist texts, in the best tradition of these genres. Among the contributors to this exciting project is the artist’s brother, Israel Martinez, an electro experimenter that we previously reviewed on the same label, whose sensitivity has led them to develop a complex work, pushing music’s outer limits without excessive heaviness or abstractions, applying the laws of avant-rock to electronic music in a fruitful melting pot of musical knowledge and experience.

 

Aagoo | Lumen Lab – Radical