CD Review
V/A – “Resurrection 2”
By Marcus Pan
 Resurrection 2 is one of those
standard label releases – the "hey this is us" you get from labels trying
to vie their way in, for this case, the elctro-industrial genre. WTII Records
are the culprit this time and we'll see some exclusive work not found elsewhere
from some up and comers as well as a couple of trenched in outfits in this
genre of music. cut.rate.box appears, for example, with their first single in
over two years. And some folks you've seen Legends review full lengths of
contributed as well. So let's do our various artists track by track
review...
1) HMB with The Metro
Right off the bat
I'm angry. Yet another cover of The Metro, this time courtesy of HMB.
You know what? It matters not to me whether this track is any good. It matters
not whether HMB are impressive as a whole. It only matters that I'm tired of
hearing this fucking song and it's time to move to a new official industrial
cover that isn't The Metro or You Spin Me Round.
2) cut.rate.box with Aperture (Slither Mix)
Aperture (Slither Mix) is the first new track from cut.rate.box
since 2002. A recent written review of mine(1) discussed a track remixed by
c.r.b's Clint Sand where he "mixes it up into a techno stomp groove." Here with
Aperture, cut.rate.box display why they are renowned in the genre, with
the futurism, heavy rock out rhythms, and skillfuly applied keyboards with the
sparingly added metallic vocals (Anyone remember the Commodore 64's SAM
program?). Already a highlight for Resurrection 2 and only two tracks
into the compilation.
3) Stromkern with Night Riders [Part III b00l3
mix]
Whether or not "b00l3" refers to electro vampire outfit
Boole(2) is unknown, but it most certainly could be my favorite vamp-mixers.
Fast paced lyrics combined with non stop rhythmic pulsations with top tier
breakdowns and kick-ass changeups. If your ass don't move, you're probably
dead. Pushing the very edge of funk weirdness, Night Riders is an
enjoyable ditty.
4) La Floa Maldita with Secrets and Dreams
Opening up with a bit of grounded floaty melodies, Secrets and
Dreams moves into a well made, if a little bit stock-available, groove.
Nothing spectacularly exciting and the chorus parts, as pretty as the lady's
voice(s) are, slow the track down from its speedier stanza sections. It gets a
little bit poppy-technoish around here as well...but that's the stock lines
they are using I would guess.
5) State of the Union with Makina Mata
State of the Union recently gifted me with a pair of their full lengths(3)
and here they appear with the rest of the WTII crew. This outfit has an SMP(4)
attitude and sound style, with a deeper and more grounded movement than the
previous track. Vocals are growled and low-tone adding a low end fullness to
the song. High-octave melodies are sparingly used and hide behind the heavier
low octave movements.
6) Trigger10d with You Complicate Things [Look the
Other Way]
You Complicate Things opens with rhythm and beat,
a more drum 'n bass sound than the electronic work found elsewhere on here.
Trigger10d, at least for this track, is female fronted and her vocals are
sultry and low. Melodies besides the droning beat and bass tracks join in
later, but don't seem to save the song from it's slow-paced, dragging movement.
7) Beborn Beton with Vorbel [FAP7 remix]
Bebord takes us on a very space-laced futuristic trip. The only problem
with Vorbel is how it can get a little monotonous – the
introduction is about a minute and a half in length and does the same thing for
the whole time. It does that a lot, and vocals don't seem to help pull it out
of this drudgery. Its saving grace is the fact that it is a very trancey song,
and most trance enthusiasts can dig long loops while strutting around...even in
a 7 1/2+ minute song which the rest of us would like to have seen finished up
in three.
8) Deceptio Mentis with Divina
Keeping the
futuristic plotline alive, Divina however breaks into a more complicated
and fulfilling groove. And while the intro to this song is similar in length to
Vorbel before, it's the complicated movements of the melody and rhythms
that keeps it from growing stale.
9) Monstrum Sepsis with Pecking Order
My
first impression as soon as Pecking Order began was that SMP had put on
a different costume. But Mostrum Sepsis do keep the mix more low key and
simple. They lace their mix together with metallics like SMP does. They add
further melodies as the track moves, almost grinding down the original opening
pace of the song with chorus-like synths. It's nothing overly special.
10) PTI with Alysium [PTII Mix]
This mix
of Alysium infuses a bit of techno into the Resurrection 2 mix,
but adds to it darkened industrial vocals. The chorus laces into brighter
vocals with good effect. Alysium isn't the best of techno/industrial
I've heard, but it's certainly not bad by any means. Very nice fat back rhythm
breakdown at quarter to three.
11) Regenerator with Blink
Closing
Resurrection 2, the original version of Blink opens trancey, but
flies into a very stompy darkened rhythm. Regenerator just recently kicked out
an album of remixes called Regenerated X(5) that we've recently had the
pleasure to write up, so you can check out that review for more on this
band.
Resurrection 2 is a fine release and a top notch
compilation. Don't be discouraged by thinking it's one of those burn-pressed
ringlets that basement labels will send out. It's as professional as any store
bought CD, and WTII have a very tight control over the music that appears here,
keeping it in a similar vein, solid genre and feel. Buy this compilation to
help you decide what to buy next, because if you're a fan of
electro/EBM/industrial, there's plenty here that you'll want to check out
further.
(1) My review of Infrastructure’s Salt the
Earth release.
(2) You have to check these d00ds out…their
self-titled release was reviewed in Legends
#110 and their most recent, Pheromones,
was written up in #132.
(3) Both reviewed in Legends #145.
(4) SMP was interviewed in Legends
#104 and their Terminal release was
written up there as well.
(5) Reviewed in
Legends #145.
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