Based in London, England, the solo project Ekstasis was formed by Lorelei Hacking at the tender age of 19 years old. Originally from Wales, Lorelei spent her formative years immersed in industrial music culture, worshipping groups such as Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, and exploring the environments that shaped their sound. After five years of developing and refining her craft, she established herself as a sought-after support act within the local experimental underground. Having shared stages with seminal acts including Brainbombs, Vomir, Nocturnal Emissions, Iggor Cavalera’s Petbrick, and Âmes Sanglantes, with Pharmakon scheduled to follow in the coming months. Lorelei’s sound is built primarily from analog modular synths, “junk noise,” and unconventional tools that generate unstable feedback and otherworldly textures, paired with animalistic, visceral vocals that erupt in frenetic screams.
In 2024, Industrial Coast released Ekstasis’ debut EP, Valle Crusis. Valle Crusis is an immersive six-track work that defies easy categorization, weaving post-industrial, dark ambient, noise, and power electronics into a cohesive yet confrontational whole. Translating to “Valley of the Cross,” the EP draws from the abrasive lineage of industrial music while filtering it through a deeply personal, emotional, and unpredictable lens. Clangor collides with spectral ambience, unfolding less like a conventional EP and more like a ritual—driven by texture, tension, and contrast rather than linear structure. It is a record that rewards close listening.
Opening track “Rabbit’s Moon” establishes a pervasive sense of unease, as soft but unsettling synth drones build tension that never fully resolves. This leads into the more aggressive “Blush” and “Veins,” where dissonance, distorted vocals, and metallic percussion collide to create landscapes that feel both violently charged and psychologically exposed. The title track and closer “Annwn” oscillate between brooding ambience and visceral intensity, maintaining an uneasy calm beneath layers of raw, distorted undertones. The minimal drones are effective as it strips sound to its bare essence, allowing sustained tones and subtle textures to overwhelm the listener through tension, space, and cerebral intensity rather than force.
The project’s “junk noise” tools generate metallic clangs and warped textures that evoke confusion and instability, clashing with low-end electronics and dissonant drones like ancient machinery grinding through forgotten catacombs. Vocals appear not as melodies but as primal invocations—cries, incantations, and guttural echoes pulled from a language just beyond comprehension. Amplified chains scrape and convulse, turning microscopic vibrations into shrill howls, ferrous screeches, and unstable pulses that feel raw, invasive, and perpetually on the verge of collapse. Together, these techniques generate harsh sound through instability, saturation, and physical interaction, where control is partial and chaos becomes an essential part of the sonic outcome. There is little comfort to be found here: no familiar hooks, no easy resolutions. Instead, Ekstasis offers a cathartic descent where noise becomes ritual and unease transforms into revelation.
Outside of Ekstasis, Lorelei also hosts a bi-weekly radio show on Noods Radio that airs out her previous stomping grounds in Bristol. A bi-weekly radio show rooted in industrial, goth, noise, and black metal, each episode is built around a self-contained theme that guides both sound and atmosphere. Themes vary from the mythological and occult to the political, psychological, and corporeal, allowing disparate sounds to coexist and converse. The show prioritizes depth over familiarity, drawing from both foundational figures and contemporary underground artists. This past summer, Lorelei completed a residency at EMS (Elektronmusiks Studion) in Sweden where she utilized the arsenal of analog modular synthesizers to record material. She is currently in the midst of editing and mixing this collected material toward producing her first full length album – along with some split releases and collaborations. Ekstasis will be opening for one of her personal influences from NYC, Pharmakon at the Rich Mix in London, England.
