Biography
Esplendor Geométrico came together in 1980 as a Spanish industrial outfit launched by Arturo Lanz, Gabriel Riaza, and Juan Carlos Sastre, each of whom had previously played in the pioneering synth-pop act Aviador Dro. Drawing from Italian futurism alongside British industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, the trio forged a singular style that fused heavily distorted, hypnotic machine rhythms with robotic Spanish vocals. Throughout the 1980s the group issued multiple cassettes and LPs, among them the 1981 release EG-1. After Riaza and Sastre departed and Saverio Evangelista came aboard in 1990, the music continued to shift, taking on Arabic elements on the 1991 album Sheikh Aljama in a manner that echoed Muslimgauze. Subsequent works including Ultraphoon (2013) and Cinética (2020) emphasized danceable, tribal-tinged rhythms while preserving a sharp layer of distortion. Steadfastly experimental and far removed from the mainstream leanings of any Wax Trax! signing, the band has exerted considerable influence on numerous rhythmic noise, IDM, and minimal synth artists.
Having formed in Madrid at the dawn of the 1980s, Esplendor Geométrico first appeared in 1981 via the 7" Necrosis en la Poya and the cassette EG-1. Their debut LP, El Acero del Partido/Héroe del Trabajo, followed in 1982. Three years afterward the group launched their own imprint, Discos Esplendor Geométrico, and put out Comisario de la Luz/Blanco de Fuerza. That same label also handled releases by Asmus Tietchens, Conrad Schnitzler, De Fabriek, and additional artists. Esplendor Geométrico further created the short-lived sister label EGK, which reissued selected early material, documented two of the band’s own live performances, and issued cassettes by others, among them an early Francisco López recording. By the close of the decade the LPs Kosmo Kino and Mekano-Turbo had surfaced, while the concert documents Madrid Mayo '89 and Live in Utrecht arrived in 1990.
The band signed with Daft Records for the Arabic-leaning 1991 album Sheikh Aljama and inaugurated a fresh label, Geometrik, whose first offerings were the experimental compilation Audioscope and Control Remoto 1.0, a split CD with Evangelista’s project Most Significant Beat. These were succeeded in 1993 by Arispejal Astisaró on Linea Alternativa. Dutch imprint Staalplaat released the double-CD retrospective 1980-1982. In 1994 both the studio album Veritatis Splendor and the compilation 1983-1987 appeared on Geometrik. Nador, a collection of unreleased late-’80s tracks, came out on Daft in 1995. Another overview, '80s Tracks, surfaced on Apocalyptic Vision in 1996, while the live set Tokyo Sin Fin was issued by Gift and the studio album Balearic Rhythms emerged on Geometrik. Further '80s material was gathered on the double-CD Tarikat (Daft), and the new album Polyglophone appeared on Geometrik. EN-CO-D-eSPLENDOR, containing remixes by Coil and Chris & Cosey, was released by Gift in 1998.
Esplendor Geométrico began reissuing catalog titles on Geometrik; after several years without fresh material, Compuesto de Hierro surfaced in 2002. Numerous remixes of the group’s minimal-wave staple “Moscú Está Helado” appeared in 2004. A broader retrospective titled Anthology 1981-2003 arrived in 2005. An untitled box set of early recordings was issued by Vinyl-on-Demand in 2006, and the band commenced a series of live CD-Rs that same year. The CD/DVD 8 Traks & Live followed in 2007, and Vinyl-on-Demand released another box of early cassette material, 1980-1989 | First Decade. The studio album Pulsión appeared in 2009; at the time of its release Lanz resided in Beijing while Evangelista lived in Rome, yet the pair remained active in performance and recording. The studio albums Desarrollos Geométricos (2011) and Ultraphoon (2013) came next, accompanied by the compilation Selected Tracks, Vol. 1 1992-1998 and the live collaboration E.G. Kaidan with Japanese noise veterans Hijokaidan, recorded in Tokyo in 2013. The double-LP overview Fungus Cerebri and the studio album Fluida Mekaniko both appeared toward the end of 2016. A further compilation, Selected Tracks, Vol. 2 1995-1998, was issued in 2019. The studio album Cinética arrived at the start of 2020.
Having formed in Madrid at the dawn of the 1980s, Esplendor Geométrico first appeared in 1981 via the 7" Necrosis en la Poya and the cassette EG-1. Their debut LP, El Acero del Partido/Héroe del Trabajo, followed in 1982. Three years afterward the group launched their own imprint, Discos Esplendor Geométrico, and put out Comisario de la Luz/Blanco de Fuerza. That same label also handled releases by Asmus Tietchens, Conrad Schnitzler, De Fabriek, and additional artists. Esplendor Geométrico further created the short-lived sister label EGK, which reissued selected early material, documented two of the band’s own live performances, and issued cassettes by others, among them an early Francisco López recording. By the close of the decade the LPs Kosmo Kino and Mekano-Turbo had surfaced, while the concert documents Madrid Mayo '89 and Live in Utrecht arrived in 1990.
The band signed with Daft Records for the Arabic-leaning 1991 album Sheikh Aljama and inaugurated a fresh label, Geometrik, whose first offerings were the experimental compilation Audioscope and Control Remoto 1.0, a split CD with Evangelista’s project Most Significant Beat. These were succeeded in 1993 by Arispejal Astisaró on Linea Alternativa. Dutch imprint Staalplaat released the double-CD retrospective 1980-1982. In 1994 both the studio album Veritatis Splendor and the compilation 1983-1987 appeared on Geometrik. Nador, a collection of unreleased late-’80s tracks, came out on Daft in 1995. Another overview, '80s Tracks, surfaced on Apocalyptic Vision in 1996, while the live set Tokyo Sin Fin was issued by Gift and the studio album Balearic Rhythms emerged on Geometrik. Further '80s material was gathered on the double-CD Tarikat (Daft), and the new album Polyglophone appeared on Geometrik. EN-CO-D-eSPLENDOR, containing remixes by Coil and Chris & Cosey, was released by Gift in 1998.
Esplendor Geométrico began reissuing catalog titles on Geometrik; after several years without fresh material, Compuesto de Hierro surfaced in 2002. Numerous remixes of the group’s minimal-wave staple “Moscú Está Helado” appeared in 2004. A broader retrospective titled Anthology 1981-2003 arrived in 2005. An untitled box set of early recordings was issued by Vinyl-on-Demand in 2006, and the band commenced a series of live CD-Rs that same year. The CD/DVD 8 Traks & Live followed in 2007, and Vinyl-on-Demand released another box of early cassette material, 1980-1989 | First Decade. The studio album Pulsión appeared in 2009; at the time of its release Lanz resided in Beijing while Evangelista lived in Rome, yet the pair remained active in performance and recording. The studio albums Desarrollos Geométricos (2011) and Ultraphoon (2013) came next, accompanied by the compilation Selected Tracks, Vol. 1 1992-1998 and the live collaboration E.G. Kaidan with Japanese noise veterans Hijokaidan, recorded in Tokyo in 2013. The double-LP overview Fungus Cerebri and the studio album Fluida Mekaniko both appeared toward the end of 2016. A further compilation, Selected Tracks, Vol. 2 1995-1998, was issued in 2019. The studio album Cinética arrived at the start of 2020.
Albums
