Most people in the contiguous States consider Alaska as somewhat of a mystery caked in ice and containing more Moose and Caribou than people. Yet the densely populated areas are meccas for Industry, particularly when it comes to the extraction of oil and petroleum. Gigantic machines spring from the Earth and pummel into the ground with repetitive, thundering booms and clangs that echo across an otherwise silent and mostly barren landscape. When you think about it like that it seems to be the perfect location to inspire an industrial act with unlimited rhythmic potential evoking cold and desolate moods.

A once anonymous entity recording under the name Lucidstatic since 2005, James Church has made a name for himself with brilliant remixes for acts as diverse as Nine Inch Nails, Clawfinger, Celldweller, Unter Null, Autoclav1.1, Assemblage 23, Meat Beat Manifesto, Ani DiFranco and many more. With a few self-released albums under his belt he was picked up by Tympanik Audio and now presents a collection of 17 tracks, some new and some culled from compilations, that adequately bring everyone up to speed with a style that embraces Industrial, Powernoise, IDM, Glitch, and Breakcore elements in a synergistic fusion that is powerful and innovative. Gravedigger is a shocking and lengthy display of amazingly fluid creativity.

The sound of Lucidstatic is crisp, eschewing the wall of distortion that most Powernoise acts utilize to hide their lack of substance. The opening track, "Blackout," features an endlessly evolving rhythm which seems electrified by a kind of organic static that surrounds the music like a digital halo as piledriving beats pound their way into your skull. Whereas a lot of electronic acts get by with a lazy attitude of, "Here's my beat for this song, now let me pound you over the head with it for four minutes," Lucidstatic is the kind of project that has more respect for the listener treating them to a range of sounds and approaches within each individual track.

"The Man Who Wasn't There" even manages to incorporate some dark ambient textures with synth atmosphere that bring to mind Aphex Twin and Autechre. In fact many of these pieces build upon well-established attempts at creating mood over the rhythmic frenzy. It's a multi-faceted approach that allows you to pick up on different aspects with each listen. "Warning" features bubbling electronics working alongside oozing bass tones and a rapid rise-and-fall structure that is entrancing. There's almost a classic Hip-Hop feel to some of the tracks when you take into consideration how each song is layered and that ties in nicely to a solid Drum N' Bass element prevalent in a number of the songs. "Unknown Test Subject" has a Jungle feel that is enhanced by a malevolent aggression made three dimensional by the instances of light synth melodies.

Any criticisms of Gravedigger would be somewhat superficial. To this listener's ears "Mercy Of A Bullet" suffers from a lack of direction and a collage of sounds that don't seem to work well with one another. Beyond that a seventy minute running time makes it difficult to get through the entire collection in one sitting and many will wind up switching it off once the CD reaches its halfway mark. That is unfortunate considering the last third of the album features some great collaborative efforts that fill out this album nicely. Lucidstatic represents another winner for Tympanik Audio and is an artist on which you should be keeping an eye along with an ear, or two.

See also: Review: Black Brothel