Abiku Novelty
Self-Released
Abiku (www.abiku.tk) is an enigmatic noise/ambient/experimental duo
that is spacey, weird and way fucking out there. The closest comparison I can
make with the self-released Novelty is to Controlled Bleeding music-wise
and Diamanda Galas in terms of vocals. Dark, seemingly random seeds of melody
and manipulated bits of sound are set amongst the likes of shrieking female vox
(sometimes relaxed to beautifully haunting rants) and relentless low-tech
percussion. This unlikely grouping is strangely enjoyable, yet has the
potential to destroy your speakers if you’re not too careful. Recommended
for the curious cats out there in need of something very different.
And One Aggressor
Metropolis
Aggressor is just what you might expect as
the next chapter in And One’s catalog and certainly does not disappoint.
It embraces the rougher edges of the band’s more aggressive work while
retaining the sensitive grace that evolved in their sound over the years,
blurring the lines between synthpop and electro-industrial genres. Filled with
strong minimalist percussion, quirky synth hooks, 100% German lyrics and enough
hits to take Tyson out in the first round, And One continue to impress with
unrelenting vigor.
Cesium_137 Elemental
Metropolis
These guys do not fuck around. As soon as you put
Elemental into your stereo, you’re instantly hooked by an
unrelenting brand of electro-pop that simply demands your attention and
doesn’t let go. The extraordinary depth and quality of the music structure
reminds one of a hybrid of Haujobb, Assemblage 23 and Informatik; all label
mates that embody not only tight music, but also high production value and
consistent sonic excellence. The range on this album shifts between gruff
vocals with an aggressive EBM beat to gentle vox bathed in syrupy synthpop, yet
never swaying overlong to either extreme. Overall, Cesium_137 is my choice for
best album this month, which I hope means something to you.
Decree Moment of Silence
Metropolis
Holy shit is all I have to say. How many
years since Decree’s last release? And now they’re back with the
harshest brand of industrial music I’ve heard in years. Mixing tonally
shredded guitars, live and digital percussion and acidic vocals, Moment of
Silence blows away the dead and buried Wake of Devastation release,
which more or less passed for a noise album. Don’t get me wrong,
Moment is noisy…but with tight structure and deliberate subtleties
which make the album a bona fide necessity for any hardcore industrial music
fan. Decree is the genre’s answer to death metal, with a backbone named
Chris Peterson (of Will, Delerium and Frontline Assembly), who brings all of
his diverse experience to the table in a maelstrom of intensity. If it took
this long for Decree to mature into its current form, it was definitely worth
the wait.
Die Form InHuman
Metropolis
This well-established French S&M band are nothing
short of intriguing. The strangely juxtaposed operatic female vox and thumping
electronics may be a bit distracting to some, but work effectively in most
tracks. A few songs seem to float aimlessly with weaker musical appeal and
unvarying over-the-top vocals, an easily pardoned flaw given the relatively
short timing of the pieces (most are under 4 minutes). InHuman drifts in
purgatory with its hit or miss songs, making it more or less forgettable to
anyone who isn’t a hardcore fan of the band. Only time will tell if the
upcoming sequel ExHuman will go above and beyond its
predecessor.
Fiction 8 Forever, Neverafter
Nilaihah
Forever, Neverafter is one of those confused
albums that can’t quite decide what genre it belongs to, yet offer up one
great hook-laced song after another regardless of stylistic preference. Male
and female vocals trade lead from track to track, melding with strong
industrial, goth and electro hybrid compositions to form instantly addictive
pieces. Fiction 8 have in one hand created an album almost impossible to
dislike, while in the other they are responsible for many a song that I
couldn’t purge from my head all day.
Imperative Reaction Redemption
Metropolis
Redemption is Imperative Reaction’s
passport into mastery of their electronic industrial craft. The smooth
combination of slick melodic vocals, strong programming and a good sense of pop
structure make for a viable club album, with nearly every track primed for the
dance floor. Basically, the album is pretty much what you’d
expect…great beats, lots of satisfying hooks and pretty much homogenized
by the influence of contemporary synthpop and electropop bands—but who
isn’t these days? It may not be revolutionary or defining in terms of
genre milestones, but it’s a solidly likeable album that will not let you
down.
Lights of Euphoria Krieg Gegen
Die Maschinen Metropolis
Lights of Euphoria are part of an
energetic community of electronic bands who are too untamed to force their
album into a single style. Ranging from industrial and EBM to synth and
futurepop, Krieg may repel any hardcore or purist connoisseurs, which is
the disc’s only drawback. Perhaps the wild array of styles could be more
focused, but overall this is a diverse and welcome album for any fan that can
appreciate the best of a wide variety of electronic music
genres…especially with appearances by VNV Nation, God Module, Grendel and
Davantage.
Namnambulu Distances
Nilaihah
Even if you can’t say the name on the first try,
Namnambulu are a band that hits you immediately and in more than one way. The
thick vocals drift through a pensive introspection while a heavy beat keeps
your pulse and/ore feet moving. The purgatorial mix of ballad and dance track
makes Distances a unique album, comparable perhaps to slower pieces by
VNV Nation, with just as many attractive hooks and laden with a dramatically
gripping vocal quality. Overall, Distances has made the cut to my
permanent iTunes track list, which means Nambambulu get an A+.
Null Device A Million Different
Moments Nilaihah
While only a sophomore album, A Million
Different Moments is more mature than some bands can hope for in a
lifetime. Null Device run the gamut on this disc with worldly styles that are
diverse and yet intertwined by a sensitive cohesion that propels the band past
your everyday synthpop group. They aren’t afraid of guitars and certainly
aren’t allergic to exploration. If you’re a fan of the genre and
crave something that offers more than you’re used to, look no
further.
Satyricon Volcano Red
Ink
Okay, there is such a good thing as good death metal and bad
death metal. Satyricon is poised directly in the middle, blending thrashing
guitars and passably decent tunes with just the right amount of cheesiness and
cliché ideology. It seems that they didn’t go out of their way to
take the album above just what it needs to be, which may not be worth your time
and probably wasn’t worth mine. I may sound split down the middle on
Volcano, but that’s simply because the album is, too. Half cool,
yet half crusty is still only crusty in my opinion…
Seabound Beyond Flatline
Metropolis
Beyond Flatline is an infallible and
charismatic album that will impress with its tidal wave of synth hooks,
voluptuous beats and pleasantly hollow vocals. Anthem after anthem rock this
album solidly into the “instant classic” category. Seemingly inspired
by the likes of Covenant and the current camp of synthpop-slash-industrial
powerhouses, Seabound bring a fresh modern flavor to the table and are
establishing themselves as a major force to be reckoned with.
Wumpscut Bonepeeler
Metropolis
Finally we see an original album from Wumpscut entirely
worthy of the name and the expectations instilled by it. This album is full of
asylum-style aggression and fist-pounding percussive might, yet laden with a
cold lethargy that only Wumpscut can deliver in the proper doses. In the tide
of sweet synthpop thickly permeating the industrial and electronic genres,
Bonepeeler offers a fresh injection of dark electro to shock the
system.
Yelworc Trinity
Metropolis
Long known for their dark electronic style and occultist
themes, Yelworc’s sound is subtle yet undeniably evil. This album takes me
back to Skinny Puppy’s Too Dark Park, a kindred album in its
chilling unorthodox nature. Trinity is completely immersed in a dark
realm of innovative music that is infectious enough to keep your attention
while subjecting you to viable creativity—sort of like hiding medicine in
your food. To feel the full weight of Trinity, it should be heard in
full (not to mention in the dark) as it operates seamlessly as a complete opus.
This is not a radio album and it may not be the best to bring along for a road
trip, but I’ll be damned if you can’t scare some old folks by playing
it really, really loud.
Foetus Male! MVD
I am
excited to see this Foetus classic re-released in a newly packaged DVD format,
yet there are good and bad sides to the conversion. The good side is that the
audio has been remastered in 5.1 surround sound for an outstanding aural
experience by Jim “Foetus” Thirlwell himself. The bad side is that
the video was seemingly copied directly from a worn master tape with no digital
touch-ups, so you get all of the unwanted video artifacts such as lines, grit
and even a bit of distortion at the edges (if you watch it at full capacity)
that you would on a used VHS tape. On the whole it’s not too far from
watching the VHS version except for the enhanced sound, which admittedly makes
the DVD worth buying for that purpose alone.
Director’s Cut Miglia
Technology Ltd.
Perhaps the most user-friendly digital video
editing device available, Miglia’s Director’s Cut (www.miglia.com)
offers ease of use and indispensable reliability and function at a reasonable
price. To start, one needs only a moderate computer (Mac or PC) with a Firewire
connection and an analog source to be converted to DV or vice versa—and
that’s the hardest part. In my case, I wanted to archive some old concert
footage from brittle VHS to the more reliable DVD format. Director’s
Cut allows for standard A/V and S-VHS inputs from devices like VCRs or
camcorders while allowing output to a computer as well as a separate monitor
(not required) for real-time editing. I used a simple VCR and an old Commodore
monitor in conjunction with Apple’s iMovie for editing the video
(included with OS X) and iDVD for authoring a DVD ($49, www.apple.com). Your
computer automatically recognizes the device as a DV camera, so no complicated
software or drivers are necessary. Once you have your system set up, the
no-nonsense interface makes for an effortless procedure. Depending on your
project, you may capture or export in either PAL or NTSC formats with the push
of a button. At half the price of many similar DV devices, Miglia’s
Director’s Cut makes it both painless and realistic for anyone to
set up a video-editing studio.
