NNHMN — Church Of No Religion

Church Of No Religion is a darkly heady, at times dizzying journey into layered & detailed electro-beats, brooding-to- prime evil synth tones, and buried female/male vocals. This eight-track album feels like ritual music for some darkly hedonistic 1980s/ early 1990's club- yes retro synth releases are extremely common these days, but NNHMN are adding something a little different and distinct to the genre. I certainly see this appealing to those who enjoy the more darkly tinged beats ‘n’ synth work of the likes of Coil, or more energetic & beat focused goth music.

NNHMN (pronounce Non-Human) are the duo of Lee and Laudarg- the pair are both from Berlin, and decided to hook up & form the project after their love of all things gothic and beat pulsing. Church Of No Religion is the pair first release, and while some of the tracks do sound a little samey- as a single thirty eight-minute trip into darkly hazed ‘n’ heady beats, synths, and hovering vocals- it’s most satisfying, with enough variation from track-to-track to keep you held into the album.

Each of the eight tracks are built around fairly similar blend of layered and at times complex beats patterns- that often cascade, spiral, and shifting. Then there are the synth tones which move from dark-hued & choppily techno, to rapidly pulsing and darting darkness, through to darkly rising & ritually fraught. Edged these two key elements we find buried sways of mainly wailing & grim almost eastern harmonious female vocals and darkly chattering male vocals- these never really form into lyrics or words, but instead, just add another moody layer to proceedings. Each of the tracks lasts between four and five minutes- so you get long enough to get sucked into the darkly pulsing and often entrancing structure of the tracks- yet not long enough to become jaded or bored by what’s going on.

The CD packaging is worth a mention too- as it’s fairly distinct and uniquely- as the matt digipak features just crimson red and black coloring- with the cover featuring a pixelated picture of a knife pressed against a crucifix adorned throat, and the fold-out panels featuring pure reds with black ritual occult symbols off. So hats to Zoharum for this creative & less clichéd take on CD packaging…a few of their recent releases have had similar trying-to-think-out-of-the-box look about them.

As debut goes Church Of No Religion isn’t half bad- with the duo managing to create their own sound and identity in the very overpopulated retro 80’s synth scene. If you enjoy darkly entrancing electronica, with a distinctly ritual-yet-club fed vibe I think you’ll also dig what NNHMN are doing here.