Everybody knows what a guilty pleasure is, right? It’s when
you enjoy something without knowing why, with the
knowledge that you are one of the few that do. These crazy
Italians vomit forth a wild Goblins tinged blackened cult
metal at a ferocious pace. It hits the listener with maniacal
drumming, wildly mystical piano and organ, magical
chanting, a fucked up twin guitar attack and even a kitchen
sink or two. There is so much going on it’s pretty hard to
figure out – and boy it makes my head spin. Maybe it’s all
the drugs or something but this is music that should be
experienced for the sheer spectacle of it. Please give it a try
and tell me I’m not crazy. – Greg Manz
Category: Issue 03
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Maldoror – In Saturn Mystique
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Apoptygma Berzerk – Harmonizer
Ingredients:
2 cups Scooter brand happy hardcore techno
1 cup Aqua brand bubble-gum pop
1 cup granulated white sugar
caramel sauce, heated- In a blender, combine Scooter, Aqua and sugar. Blend on
HIGH for sixty-nine minutes and forty-three seconds. Chill in
the fridge for thirty minutes. - Strain mixture through a sieve to remove anything of
substance. Set aside any lumps, as these can be used for
an upcoming Assemblage 23 album. - Pour the strained mix into a CD jewel case and return to
the fridge. Chill overnight to set. - Remove from the fridge and cut into wedges. Garnish
with hot caramel sauce and horrible, painfully badly
delivered lyrics. Wait for teeth to rot, followed by bleeding
ears.
Serves 4 – 6 – chris parasyte
- In a blender, combine Scooter, Aqua and sugar. Blend on
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Neuroticfish – Sushi
EBM IS DEAD! Or at least, so claims Neuroticfish in the
liner notes to the CD ‘Sushi’. Which makes me wonder,
what is this if it isn’t EBM? And what the heck does the
name ‘Neuroticfish’ mean anyway?
Essentially a collection of re-mixes, B-sides and unreleased
material, ‘Sushi’ is thirteen tracks of dance-floor-friendly
futurepop goodness. The collection features four different
remixes of Neuroticfish’s prominent single ‘Wake Me
Up!’, which are varied enough in their sound to ward off
sounding stale and boring the listener. Each remix has a
different sound to it, and if not for the vocal track you
wouldn’t know they came from the same song. A pleasant
surprise, seeing as most CD’s with more than two re-mixes
of the same song end up being a chore to listen to (‘Head
Like A Hole’ 10 track maxi single, anyone?). Considering
that Neuroticfish produced or co-produced most of the
remixes, it’s surprising to see so much variation in the
sound. Refreshing in a time when every remix of every
band’s song sounds like VNV Nation reject material. Also
included are two different versions of ‘Velocity’, the best
song you’ve danced to at the club without even knowing
what it is.
The best song on the collection is ‘Neurocaine’.
Reminiscent of the days when New Order were worth
listening to, the song has a definite early 80’s new
wave feel to it, especially in the deceptively simplistic
sounding synthesized drum track and retro-sounding
arpeggiation. ‘Neurocaine’ is the song you wish your
favorite 80’s new wave group would record with today’s
technology, if they weren’t too busy writing their new
acoustic indy rock or emo album.
Neuroticfish will appeal to the fans of bands riding the new
wave of new wave like Mesh, Beborn Beton and Seabound,
as well as current future-pop stars such as Icon of Coil and
VNV Nation. The sound on ‘Sushi’ is pretty tight and
coherent, well-produced futurepop that you won’t want to sit
still and listen to. These songs demand to be danced to.
Even the previously unreleased demo track ‘Rotten’ holds
up pretty well against other music in the scene today. It’s
surprisingly well-produced and competently composed,
though compared to the other songs on ‘Sushi’ it has a
more stripped down, borderline industrial feel to it.
Normally hesitant to recommend ‘remixes and B- sides’
collections, I have to give ‘Sushi’ its due and advise you to
give it a listen. It has a strong, consistent sound throughout,
with enough variation to stave off boredom and keep you
listening. – chris parasyte -
Midnight Syndicate – Realm of Shadows
Realm of Shadows is Midnight Syndicate’s second full length
release. The band that makes soundtracks for
movies that do not exist have managed to pull off another
creepy, pseudo-Beethoven from hell experience in a jewel
case.
This twenty-one track Halloweenesque experience from
Entity Productions invites you to “Venture to the Realm of
Shadows where restless spirits arise from unknown
depths to wander the shores of night”. Galvin Gozka and
Edward Douglas create some very interesting (cheesy in
some parts) tracks and my only real issue is with the short
lengths of each track – the longest is five minutes. If you
are into background tunes, Halloween parties, or making
b-rated horror movies, you should already be on your way
to get this.
Personally I enjoy it whenever I listen to it, but it’s the sort
of CD that can only be taken in small doses. I would not
recommend placing it on repeat – it will get irritating
around hour four. – Azriel J. Knight -
Karl Mohr – The End of the Line
Karl Mohr’s ‘The End of the Line’ suffers from a malady that
strikes too many albums. There is one really killer song on
the album, and then it falls flat. The opening song on the
CD, “Unidentified Flying Object” is a great song, with driving
chuggy guitars and dirgey drums leading the way backed by
well timed and nicely produced electronics. There is also a
German language version of the song here to close out the
CD, “AuBerirdisches Wesen, UFO”. It is an interesting way
to bring together the songs on the CD as an album. Many
bands have tried in the past to use the same keyboard line
or guitar riff in a number of songs to give their album a
cohesive theme and sound, and it works on albums like
Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ and ‘The Downward Spiral’ by Nine
Inch Nails. Recording the same song in another language is
an intriguing idea, and it works well here, if only for the
break the second version of the track provides from the rest
of the CD.
The following songs are a strange mix of experimental
electronic instrumentals and poetry. In a way, ‘The End of
the Line’ reminds me of Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’, only much
more abstract and without the feeling of a cohesive concept
album. Some of the songs almost sound like pop songs,
such as “Kleines Feuerstuckchen”, though I really have no
idea what the song is about since I don’t speak German.
“Have You Seen My Rabbit?” stands out as a depressive
lullaby for Pugsley and Wednesday Addams. “Can Your
Remains Be Buried With Mine?”, which I assume to be the
ballad on the album, is more depressing than any song I
have ever heard, despite the circus-themed musical
instrumental in the middle of the song. It sounds like a
musical lobotomy, only with less energy.
“The End of the Line” is one of the strangest albums I
have ever listened to. Between the two versions of
“Unidentified Flying Object”, it’s just too slow and
depressing for my tastes. Don’t get me wrong, some of the
songs are not too bad. “Blown Away” is a pretty decent
song, with a bit of a Mazzy Star-esque shoe gazing quality
to it. It offers a bit of a break from the rest of the CD’s
depressive electro-goth dirge, as does “Rock and Roll
Robot” – a fairly good electronic track in the same vein as
Daft Punk’s ‘Homework’ album. Still, on this CD the bad
outweighs the good by at least a few pounds. – chris parasyte -
Lycia – Tripping Back Into The Broken Days
When I gave away my Metallica CD’s and traded them in for
more underground gothic music a few years back, one of
the bands that I fell for, and just could not get enough of,
was a band called Lycia. Arguably the first darkwave band
in existence, since the head of the label they are cradled
under coined the term, that man is Sam Rosenthal, that
label is Projekt.
A couple years ago Lycia called it quits, a project
blossomed from the confusing year of 1988 when goth was
in one of it’s many transitions. But Lycia was not gone for
good, for they have released a new album, entitled “Tripping
Back Into the Broken days” and yes, the rest of this text is
on that album, so read on my friends, and learn all about
the continuation of this legend.
For those of you who are familiar with Lycia’s older material,
you are in for quite a treat. Lycia has boiled their music
down to the basics, and discovered the power in simplicity.
All tracks consisting of acoustic guitars with ambient
backing and ethereal vocals from both Mike and Tara
Vanportfleet. Our opener is also our title track, TBITBD
sounds very much like a welcome back message, this was
my impression when the CD first spun in my hard drive.
Every track thereafter has intense feeling, melody and
meaning. Most songs deal with the artists battle with illness
and sometimes poverty, something many of us can relate
to. This isn’t some bullshit like the Backstreet Boys whining
about loneliness – this is genuine.
Some of the most memorable tracks include Fades Down
Far, It’s Okay to be Small, and the title track, Tripping Back
into the Broken Days.
This music has a feeling of being ageless, therefore I
believe nearly anyone can, and will, enjoy it. – Azriel J. Knight -
Absurd Minds – Deception
Project Pitchfork’s latest offering is a pretty decent album
called Deception. It sounds pretty much par for the course
for Project Pitchfork, and fans of the band shouldn’t be let
down. The music is pretty well written, as usual, with the
signature sound fans of the band have come to know and
love over the past decade or so. Peter Spilles’ vocals are a
bit rougher on Deception than on other Project Pitchfork
albums such as Eon:Eon or Chakra: Red!, delivered with a
bit of an aggressive growl this time around.
Oh, sorry, wait a second. Now that I take a closer look, I can
see that this isn’t Project Pitchfork at all. It’s the N*Sync to
Pitchfork’s Backstreet – Absurd Minds. Listen to this album
and you’ll see how I could get the two confused.
All kidding aside, Deception is a good album. Sure, it
sounds like it was pieced together from the loose bits of
tape lying around on Peter Spilles’ studio cutting room floor,
but it’s pieced together very well and is an enjoyable album
all around. – chris parasyte -
Emperor – Prometheus
Sadly, this is the final release by this great band – and what
a farewell it is. They’ve managed to one-up every other
black metal band with this release,
Prometheus captures the best of their previous works while
making progressions in style, technicality and ferocity. The
production is great, showcasing all the musical elements. I
wasn’t aware before of how good a drummer Trym is, his
playing is unbelievable, blasting away into emptiness. As
usual the guitar playing is amazing straying from brutal
black/death metal riffage to some prog/jazz elements. Wow!
Brutality and melody intertwined with symphonic guitar
orchestrations equally perplexing and entrancing, what a
fitting end to a brilliant career. All hail Emperor! – Greg Manz -
Devin Townsend – Terria
Yep, Devin’s done it all, from singing for Steve Vai to
playing guitar for Front Line Assembly, and so on and so
forth, so I’m gunna shut up because everyone knows
about all that shyte already. This is the newest release
under his own record label, recording along with
drummer Gene Hoglen, who has continued to work with
Devin since the production of the Strapping Young Lad
album ‘City’. This album doesn’t sound nearly as
drowney as Physicist, nor as popish as Infinity. But like
most of the other recording, it does have its lame
moments.
Most recommended tracks would be Earth Day and the
Fluke (despite that it sounds punky in the beginning). – Brooke Chaisson -
MortIIs – The Smell of Rain
“What the fuck?”
It’s a pretty common reaction to Mortiis, both visually and
musically. In the past, any time I’ve played Mortiis’ music for
a friend or shown them a picture or his web site, the
response has usually been something along the lines of a
baffled look of confusion or revulsion.
Mortiis is a weird guy. He looks like a demonic elf, with long
prosthetic pointy ears, a hooked nose, heavy makeup and a
wardrobe that makes KISS look like Weezer. On past
albums, such as ‘Crypt of the Wizard’ or ‘Keiser av en
Dimension Ukjent’ (which loosely translated means
‘Emperor of a Dimension Unknown’), his music was nothing
short of epic instrumental. Mortiis produced soundtracks for
slaying orcs in a darker world (or at least a Playstation
RPG).
Then, with ‘The Smell of Rain’, something changed. Gone
are the long instrumentals. Gone is the sense of epic
adventure and consequence. Gone is the enveloping feeling
of the fantastic the music of Mortiis once instilled.
We’ve entered Mortiis: Era 2.
‘The Smell of Rain’ starts like any other Mortiis album could
be expected to start – the opening track, “Parasite God”,
begins as a strange sounding electronic keyboard line with
a dark tone to it plays a somber tune. Twenty-two seconds
later, the bass drum kicks in, and Mortiis fans say “What the
fuck?” At 1:27, Mortiis fans realize why he’s never put vocal
tracks on his albums before. Mortiis really can not sing very
well at all.
Yet his staccato vocal delivery style seems to fit with the
music on this album, which is a strange mix of Mortiis’ own
brand of electronic opus and Sisters of Mercy influenced
goth rock. While the music on this album is unlike anything
Mortiis has ever really done before, with his solo projects
or during his days with black metal band Emperor, ‘The
Smell of Rain’ is actually a pretty decent album musically.
The vocals are, perhaps fortunately, recorded at a rather
low level in the mix on most of the songs. Not only is
Mortiis a poor singer, he’s also not a great songwriter by
any stretch. There are some pretty awful lyrics on here,
more or less reminiscent of some of the early bootleg Nine
Inch Nails demos.
When you look at the list of artists Mortiis thanks for
inspiration this time around (including Nine Inch Nails,
Enigma, Moby, Vangelis, horrible 80’s synth pop, Rob
Zombie, Tool, KMFDM, The Sisters of Mercy and many
more), it’s almost understandable why this album sounds
the way it does. Key word: “almost”. How any artist can
make a departure like this from their old style of music is
never easy to understand, unless they’re going after Top
40 rotation like Apoptygma Berzerk seems to be doing.
‘The Smell of Rain’ is not going to hit mainstream radio
charts, and Mortiis won’t be on MTV any time soon. It is a
pretty decent album, despite its campy lyrics and almost
schizophrenic musical composition. Fans of industrial,
darkwave, goth rock and dark synth pop will all be able to
find something on this CD they can enjoy. – chris parasyte
