h3llb3nt - 0.01 (CD, 1996, Fifth Colvmn Records). First release from Hellbent (more often stylized h3llb3nt). A stellar collaboration between Bryan Black (haloblack, Motor, Black Asteroid), Eric Powell (16 Volt), Jared Louche (Chemlab), Charles Levi (Thrill Kill Kult) and Jordan Nogood (Nogooddesign).
Love all of h3llb3nt's releases. Their first release sets a great tone for the band with post-coldwave, literal whispers of cyberpunk and the clinical sounds of the digital, balanced nicely with Levi's signature funky basslines.
For 1996, the artwork seems to hint toward the digital precision a la The Designers Republic (95's Wipeout game/compilation) and typeface minimal-but-messy like Tomato (Underworld's '94 LP Dubnobasswithmyhead). Stuff we'd call today probably early Y2K Aesthetic or maybe even a smidge proto-Metalheart. (Nogood's design spans all of h3llb3nt releases but also recognizable in album artwork for haloblack's '94 LP >Tension Filter< and 16 Volt's '96 LP LetDownCrush).
The music is just as excellent. Few artists or releases sound much like this. Highly suggest starting with "Chromed", "3 Murders, 3 Nights" and "Burnout", but the entire album is stellar as a whole.
