Since 2016, Pennsylvania’s industrial experimentalist Lunacy has been crafting and shaping their sound through multiple EP releases and a compilation LP. 2019 marks the release of their debut album, Age of Truth, and sees Lunacy bringing the past into the present, using older equipment and recording techniques to create a release both modern and aged.
What gives Age of Truth it’s character is Lunacy’s choice to record the entire album on a four track cassette recorder. Even without prior knowledge of this, the overall album has a grainy, lo-fi quality that helps prop up the cold and industrial nature of Lunancy’s music, without ever feeling gimmicky or forced. The use of the at times abrasive synthesiser textures, especially on tracks such as ‘Call of Signals’, really roots Age of Truth in two different time periods. Those not as versed in the world of lo-fi recordings may find these production choices ear fatiguing, but Lunacy is able to push this idea just far enough without it overstaying its welcome.
Despite these quite harsh sounding production choices, Age of Truth is a borderline psychedelic listen. The opener, ‘Sullen’, is more of an exception than a tone setter, with the rest of the album focusing on soundscapes and atmospheres. The clockwork drum loops and droning synth layers on ‘Fall on Arms’ is intoxicating, and the lo-fi-esque production lends these atmospheric moments an otherworldly quality. Age Of Truth is an album which blends the old with the new, the industrial with the gossamer, an aural dichotomy.
Age of Truth will be released on 22nd November through Third Coming Records and is available to purchase here.
Words: Sean Elias
