The Young Gods

The Young Gods, Swiss purveyors of electro-noise, first took shape in 1982 when Geneva frontman Franz Treichler grew restless in his new-wave outfit and began tinkering with a compact sampler. Drawing equally from punk’s raw force and classical music’s sweeping scale, he started fashioning harsh loops of guitar and drums. By 1985, alongside sampler Cesare Pizzi and percussionist Frank Bagnoud, he formally launched the trio, taking its name from a Swans track. The group’s first release arrived the following year in the shape of the terse, scorching single “Envoyé!,” which captured their confrontational aesthetic in concentrated form.

Roli Mosimann of Swans helmed the self-titled debut album that appeared in 1987 and earned Melody Maker’s Album of the Year accolade. Drummer Use Heistand had already stepped in for Bagnoud by the time L’Eau Rouge surfaced in 1989. Further personnel shifts followed: Alain Monod replaced Pizzi on sampler for the 1991 collection The Young Gods Play Kurt Weill. T.V. Sky arrived the next year, while Only Heaven in 1995 explored ambient shades. Two years after that, the lineup—now featuring Bernard Trontin on drums and minus Heistand—issued Heaven Deconstruction.