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ENKI

"Beautiful words...the words you composed do capture ENKI's great contribution to our being."

-Nov.7th, 1999, Zecharia Sitchin speaking on 'ENKI'

Few albums had pleased me this much in such a way as the debut of the American Lorin Richards did, despite the independent production, he obtains to make “ENKI” a beautiful sample of electronic and melancholic pop melodies, a rare case where, perhaps, the only group that I obtain to remember is the German Wolfsheim. The music is very similar: keyboard, electronic vocoder with voice echo disillusions, and questionings for twelve excellent songs. Perhaps the ratio of this result is the plain fact that Lorin uses limited equipment with the maestia of a person who lives for music since the age of six. The context of “ENKI” is a passed and present reflection between and through concepts from the metaphysical (“The Fortune Cookie Breaks”) to the downright religious (“Lying Naked”). Without a doubt, this album is an excellent surprise.
–Eneas Neto

For some reason ENKI by Lorin Richards reminds me of older 80’s bands like Gary Neuman. I love the sound, it is pure electronic pop at its greatest. There is not one thing I would change on this CD. Pure soothing melodies, soft jazzy drums, and vocals influenced from ancient writings. What more could you ask for? Nothing that’s right. ENKI is like a trip back to meet what created modern day electronic music. Very soft and calming sounds evolve and change to make the music all to enjoyable.
–Last Sigh Magazine, reviewed by Tek

Lorin Richards formerly of the industrial band Graven Image has evolved to produce some quite different music. Musically the album reminds me more of the 80’s band Japan than anything considered “Industrial”. Maybe it’s the clean vocals or the vague oriental influence. The programming is very minimal especially when compared to his work with Graven Image. My biggest complaint is that the vocals seem to get buried in the mix and are hard to discern at times, which is unfortunate because his lyrics are insightful. Definitely not one for the dancefloor, but if you are thinking of taking an inward journey, the world of ENKI awaits.
–Seven Magazine, reviewed by Dean

The new millennium. The world hasn’t changed a bit. The current state of electronic music has changed a whole lot recently. EBMish, synth-pop groups like VNV Nation and Covenant have pushed aside such former heavyweights as Wumpscut. Power noise made a small comeback with new releases by Noisex, Dive, and the recent releases by a relatively unknown record label named Hands. The only problem is that most of these small trends have been done before.
That’s why Lorin Richards first solo release, ENKI, is such a breath of fresh air. If his name is familiar, it’s because Lorin is making quite a name for himself here in the U.S. The Cleveland natives first published effort was with a band by the name of Graven Image. Lorin did some production and programming on their album, Black Lung Cathedral. BLC, a twisted conglomeration of industrial mayhem meets gothic sensibilities, helped remind the U.S. that Cleveland is a town to be reckoned with in the underground music scene. Enter ENKI.
ENKI is a theme, a beautiful collection of stories based on a sci-fi interpretation of ancient Sumerian religion. Imagine the beginning of the world not as an evolution over millions of years, or a creation that lasted six days, but a creation by beings of another plant. Beings seen in the eyes of early civilization as Gods. A race so advanced that they had robots guard such fantastic places like the Garden of Eden. This is the idea behind ENKI. The music on this album is good. Lorin has really laid down some ear candy for anyone who enjoys songwriting and structure. ENKI moves from many musical themes, dabbling with Asian rhythms and instrument sound to competent workings with industrial ambience. The music is very reminiscent of a Tangerine Dream soundtrack piece coupled with just about any early 90’s pop song. Lorin’s own crooning voice is strikingly familiar to Wolfgang Thums (check out Cleen’s Second Path to see what I mean). Overall, ENKI is a very peaceful and pleasant work. The production is absolutely top notch. It does seem to lack some emotional drive at times and it seems Lorin’s voice is just slightly out of key sometimes, but the composition has me looking forward to Lorin’s future releases.
–Mirage Tropics, reviewed by Afekdead