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Esplendor Geométrico, "Desarrollos Geométricos"
I didn't know quite what to expect from a new Esplendor Geométrico album, aside from a lot of relentlessly repeating percussion loops.  However, I did know that I didn't expect Desarrollos Geométricos to be nearly as distorted and brutal as it is, as their last few studio albums have been comparatively clean and less-hostile.  In many respects, this surprise return to the fury of their youth is pretty striking and invigorating, but this Spanish duo still has yet to shake some of their more fundamental and recurring flaws.
Few artists are as unapologetically single-minded in their focus as Esplendor Geométrico, as Arturo Lanz and his varying bandmates have now spent three decades chasing the perfect beat to the exclusion of nearly everything else.  In fact, a near-obsessive fixation on rhythm is basically the sole recurring theme that defines EG's work.  Well, that and extreme volume–this, like most other EG albums, is meant to be played as loudly as possible.  That is both a blessing and a curse.  These are the sort of crushing, building-shaking beats that could completely entrance and consume me when played at jet-engine volume levels live, but their brutal simplicity often leaves a lot to be desired in a normal listening environment.  The actual "music" often feels quite half-hearted and tossed-off.  Also, Lanz and Saverio Evangelista sometimes display a very primitive and puzzling "shock" aesthetic with their samples that seems better left in the '80s.
That tactic arguably works with "Presión" though, which features a snippet of an anguished woman shrieking "call 911 now," but it only succeeds because she sounds so unhinged that it feels more like a threat than a cry for help.  It sounds like she is about to tear someone's goddamn face off with her bare hands, which unsurprisingly still seems quite powerful despite being wildly over-the-top.  Dramatically less successful, however, is "Criba mecánica," which artlessly incorporates a bunch of porn samples.  Few things are more embarrassing or uncomfortable than a clumsy attempt to be puerile or darkly sexual.  That musical crime is doubly frustrating in this particular instance, as the throbbing mechanized beat and dissonant feedback beneath the moans and whimpers is pretty awesomely menacing and dystopian-sounding.  Fortunately, that dubious piece is omitted entirely from the vinyl version of the album and the remainder of the songs eschew any similarly gauche or ill-advised loops.
Tellingly, the strongest songs on Desarrollos Geométricos don't offer many frills at all, just insistent bludgeoning with machine-like precision.  My favorite is "Cada día más," which stomps and crunches along for four-and-half-minutes with little more than an eerie hum and some panning tricks to augment the unrelenting pulse.  In most cases, however, these songs could benefit greatly from even the slightest nod towards conventional musicality.  I'm not delusional–I don't expect anything crazy like actual songs or dynamic variation from Lanz, but it seems EG invariably errs either on the side of adding practically nothing to their beats or adds something far too brazen, distracting, and attention-stealing.  I'm sure there is a middle ground somewhere that Arturo and Saverio could find that might elevate their work into something less niche.  I wish they'd look for it.
It is undeniably a bit frustrating to see that Lanz and Evangelista are just as inconsistent and incapable of fully realizing the raw potential of their work as ever.  However, it is also quite heartening to see them return to abrasive roots with such enthusiasm and raw power.  Esplendor Geométrico are still definitely at the top of their game as far as constructing huge, hypnotic, and ingeniously textured rhythms: there is no one else I'd rather have playing if I was throwing an orgiastic Industrial dance party in an abandoned aircraft hangar.  I just wish they'd figure out a way to make their music as rewarding in other contexts.
(Note- the CD and vinyl versions of this album have radically different track listings.  Six of the nine songs on the CD are not on the vinyl release and three of the six songs on the vinyl are not on the CD.  This is a review of the CD version.)
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