Share This Article
From the depths of Brazil’s industrial underground, ^L_ returns with a scorching new EP on Insane Industry Recordings. NO_HOPE.TOR is a visceral, six-track manifesto that reaffirms his position as one of the most politically charged and sonically uncompromising producers in the techno-industrial circuit.
Opening with “Xanax Manifesto,” the EP plunges straight into chaos—pounding kicks and claustrophobic textures setting the tone for a dystopian journey. It’s techno stripped of glamour, soaked instead in societal decay and personal disillusionment. “Unpaid and Overworked” follows, and the title speaks volumes: distorted rhythms grind against broken machinery samples, evoking a world where labor is endless and reward is nowhere in sight.
Side B’s “Serial Experiments Lain” stands out as a cinematic midpoint, layering frenetic sequences with eerie pads that nod to late-‘90s cyberpunk paranoia. It’s a cold, mechanical track that still manages to feel deeply human—exhausted, searching, twitching beneath the surface. “The Billionaire Killer” cranks up the aggression, an auditory weapon aimed at neoliberal excess, with snarling synth lines and metallic clashes marching forward like a digital rebellion.
By the time we reach the C side, things only grow heavier. “Diesel Therapy” hits like a psychological punishment—a punishing loop-heavy assault that feels like solitary confinement inside a war engine. Closing cut “Bills, Coffer, and Cheap Existentialism” distills the EP’s themes into one bleak, beautiful track: repetitive, suffocating, and utterly hypnotic.
NO_HOPE.TOR is not an easy listen—and that’s precisely the point. ^L_ offers no utopias, only mirrors. In an age of artificial joy and algorithmic escapism, this EP dares to scream the ugly truth. Raw, honest, and fiercely political, it’s industrial techno as a form of protest—and one of ^L_’s strongest statements to date.
