CLOCK DVA @ STUDIO 9294, LONDON

Doing their first London show in more than three decades, electronic-industrial group Clock DVA has recently begun touring again following the release last year of their new studio album, ‘Noesis’. They started their set on one of its singles, ‘Acceleration’; although founding member Adi Newton was a bit off on vocal timing throughout the set, standing on stage dressed in a boiler suit, he assumed the helm of the group, growling into the microphone while stunning visuals epileptically beat out behind him, produced by the group’s new visualiser, E. Gabriel Edvy. Along with Newton’s partner Tez, the trio make up the current lineup.

DVA also performed from their newest material from their last release, ‘Ext Vol I’, with ‘Thinking Mirrors’; its sirenic repetition throughout marbled with distorted frequencies before playing from their earlier material in the way of the group’s 1989 fourth studio album, ‘Buried Dreams’, with the brass of ‘Hide’. They performed more new material from ‘Noesis’ with the beats of ‘Syndrome’ that hinted at an earlier track , ‘Rayonist’, and again from their last album, playing the ominous fragility of ‘The Fall of the Dream Machine’. DVA then performed ‘Rayonist’ itself.

The trio changed tempo with the ambience of new song, ‘The Engine of Intimidation’, before the horror track ‘The Act’, which was visualised in blood red with samples of screams throughout. Following the beautiful gothic overture piece, ‘The Reign’, accompanied by its black-and-white ghostly visuals, they performed some of their best known work with ‘Sound Mirror’ and ‘The Sonology of Sex 2’; both EBM tracks which are also from ‘Buried Dreams’, the latter with scream sampling. Clock DVA finished their set with the classical piano, still ambience of ‘Return to Blue’ from their 1993 studio album, ‘Sign’, with archive colour visuals of the space landings, and one final track from ‘Buried Dreams’, ‘The Hacker’.

25/10/24: Clock DVA @ Studio 9294, London.