LA DEMEURE; il y a péril en la demeure / LA DEMEURE; il y a peril en la demeure

Grischa Lichtenberger's second full-length album on Raster-Noton continues exploring the broken machine rhythms of his previous releases, often sounding on the verge of data overload, if not a total system shutdown. His sound has actually managed to cool off a bit since his harsh, unforgiving 2009 debut EP; amidst all the scattered, fractured glitchcore, there are more atmospheric moments such as "Arct 1." Other tracks such as "Bre 41306" feature swarming textures and blurring micro-beats that seem devoid of any trace of humanity. Lichtenberger inhabits such a barren, alien space, barely allowing for any emotions to peek out from the technological onslaught. This may be potentially off-putting to the listener, but his mastery of sound design is often astonishing, making the album a fascinating listen. "Cl Vb 2_v2" consists of squishy, mutated beats tumbling into each other, and "Degrid Skt" opens with hard, snapping beats that gradually seem to taper off a bit before adding another knocking percussive sound and hissing, static noises that almost seem to cohere into a melody before the piece suddenly ends. Lichtenberger keeps all of his tracks short, never going much longer than four minutes, offering a truly skewed alternate-dimension take on pop music.