After 38 years of creating uncompromising experimental Industrial music, Abstinence is releasing a series of collections of tracks from 1985 to 2022.

Originally beginning as a deathrock/industrial band in 1985, Abstinence would firmly find its footing as an experimental Industrial band in 1987/1988. The Point of Impact is the audio representation of that evolution.

Abstinence evolved into an experimental Industrial video music project in 1991, orchestrated by founder Darryl Hell, which made the visual component as important as the audio itself and deemed them inextricably connected. In 1993, Hell began collaborating with the visionary multimedia outfit Emergency Broadcast Network and would join the band in 1996. Hell's work with EBN only increased the import of the visual component in Abstinence performances. There are tracks presented here that are designed to be articulated with their visual components but translate well to the audio only format.

The name Abstinence is defined by the band as "abstaining from the redundancy of what people think." [they are NOT a Christian band! ;) ] Taking the rare position of not trying to get into the cycle of touring in the early 1990s, which a number of their colleagues did to varying success, Abstinence had guaranteed they would be more obscure than if they had taken a more traditional route. Hell's reasoning was pretty straight forward; "There isn't enough money to be made as an experimental Industrial musician to justify not having a full-time job." It was this philosophy that gave the band the creative freedom to completely explore without limits nor the concerns of the industry to follow trends. By not having to rely on band income to support its members, it didn't require the generation of tons of fans/followers to support it...merely the ones that gravitate to experimental Industrial music and culture.

Abstinence's current roster of creatives span across Industrial culture because they also perform/performed in bands like Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Killing Joke, Thrill to Kill Kult, Slick Idiot, Cyberaktif, Bile, Consolidated, Pigface, and more. Having performed in the experimental Industrial project Emergency Broadcast Network, Abstinence founder Darryl Hell presents a unique vision of Industrial performance/culture/music that is rooted in their 1985 founding. Being the only legacy Industrial band [started between 1976 & 1986] founded by a Black person, they take an unflinching approach to their blatantly Black, ultra-progressive, global human rights, anti-xenophobic, and social/political liberation stances.

This release was inspired by the 2024 Dark Force Festival at the Sheraton in Parsippany, NJ, which will include a rare live performance by Abstinence... in their home state!