AICHER – Defensive Acoustics (Downwards Records)

AICHER – Defensive Acoustics  (Downwards Records - DNAR01)

Defensive Acoustics marks the debut of AICHER, a project led by longtime Downwards affiliate Liam Andrews (MY DISCO, EROS), developed in collaboration with experimental percussionist Rohan Rebeiro. The album draws from a performance staged in the decaying basement of Kanazawa’s Ishiguro Building in early 2024, later reworked and refined for this release.

What emerges is a stark strain of industrial minimalism: sheet‑metal percussion, immense low‑end pressure and a disciplined sense of spatial tension. Across eight tracks, AICHER pushes sound to its structural limits, evoking the cold geometry of Emptyset, the metallic heft of Einstürzende Neubauten and the severe clarity of early Depeche Mode sound design. Boris Wilsdorf’s production sharpens the edges further, giving the record its abrasive, monochrome presence.

From the lurching weight of “Ascertain” to the collapsing momentum of “An Exhausted Image”, the album moves with a kind of mechanical inevitability. “Constriction” strikes with clipped, propulsive force, while the closing piece “Possessions” opens into a bleak, restrained ambience that offsets the preceding intensity.

Defensive Acoustics is a study in pressure, resonance and restraint — a debut that feels both physically imposing and meticulously controlled. Released via Downwards Records, 7 November, 2025. Ace!

Rating: 8.9/10