Spanish industrial band Esplendor Geometrico playing first-ever U.S. shows in May with Belgium's Dive (LA & NYC)

Arturo Lanz, Gabriel Riaza, and Juan Carlos Sastre formed Esplendor Geométrico in Madrid in 1980 after parting ways with their previous outfit, El Aviador Dro Y Sus Obreros Especializados. They took their name from Italian futurist F.T. Marinetti’s heady text, Geometric and Mechanical Splendor and the Numerical Sensibility. Their early releases, Secret Thirteen goes on to note, “reflected the tensions and anxiety of 80s Europe and the rough nature of architectural and technological advancements. It is like a brutalist tower block transcribed in sounds, the aesthetics of machinery.”

With the dawn of the nineties, the band slimmed down and began experimenting with different sounds and influences, from Arabic, African, and Chinese music to harsher noise. Later in the decade, noted industrialists such as Coil and Throbbing Gristle’s Chris and Cosey reworked Esplendor Geométrico’s material for the remix album, EN-CO-D-Esplendor. While the group’s remaining members have since dispersed to cities as far flung as Beijing and Rome, they have continued to release records and perform sporadically. – [CTM]

Spanish industrial vets Esplendor Geométrico, currently Arturo Lanz and Saverio Evangelista, will be playing their first-ever U.S. shows later this spring, playing Los Angeles’ Union Nightclub on May 27, and then Brooklyn’s Rough Trade on May 29. Both shows are with Dive, one of the long-running electronic dance music projects of Belgian musician Dirk Ivens (who is also the reason DIIV spells their name that way). Tickets for Rough Trade are on sale now.

If you’re unfamiliar with Esplendor Geométrico or Dive, groove to the martial beat, below.