My first introduction to Fracture was their single Terror Eyes
featured on Off Seat’s [CLASS IX] compilation. Now, Terror
Eyes took me somewhat by surprise. The track takes about
half the song to build up to full momentum and new and
modified layers are constantly being initiated. My surprise?
It worked beautifully. Despite its sluggishly progressive
timeline, there is nothing sluggish about the material and its
toothiness remains a constant throughout.
So, on to hazarding the originating album. Killernet does not
seem to disappoint. It is a curiously diverse album in that
Fracture did not attempt to duplicate the sound of Terror
Eyes in any other track. I could rant for hours regarding the
hideous redundancy that occurs in so many projects –
sometimes it works, sometimes not. The absence of
redundancy in this project, however, has proven to be a
brilliant stroke. The unvarying quality throughout is welcome
as a constant and I am pleased to find that each track did
offer a comparable level of sophistication and layered
exploration.
Let me explain a little by what I mean when I refer to this
album as being ‘diverse’. Fortunately enough, the vocals
(male) also go in stride with each track’s mood – usually
under a consistent distortion: not too hot, not too cold – just
right.
Soak this album up. Their only other release, Hell is a real
pain to get a hold of. Hell is actually a concoction derived
from Killernet so don’t be too disappointed if it is nowhere to
be found. As for new upcoming material, who knows. But if
this is the only real album Fracture releases, better leave it
at that rather than with a follow up that may never exceed
the expectations put fourth by Killernet – Sarah Cassady
Tag: Sarah Cassady
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Fracture – Killernet
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Econocon – Business Solutions For The Active Terrorist
Straight from the boys of MZ.412 comes Econocon.
Don’t expect the MZ.412 flavour in its purest form, no,
no. Expect harsh electric power noise and harsh vocals
to match. Some interesting material here … not all of it
portrayed with the greatest of tact but definitely some
high points (thank you Old Europa Cafe!). The lack of
tact comes in when the noise element actually becomes
unbearable according to your eardrums and not
necessarily to your taste. Other than that, the material is
arranged in a most reasonable manner and almost
comes across as ‘coordinated experimental’ at times.
There is some variation in tempo, sound, and even style.
And I don’t lie when I say that the vocals are well-suited-very in-your-face with lyrics that give the bird by
themselves. Honestly, I cannot think of another noise
project that melds the vocals so well! If you want to take
a chance, and feel kind of angsty, Econocon seems to
be a good direction to head in. – Sarah Cassady -
Bad Sector – Xela
Yet again, Bad Sector doesn’t let us down (in fact, I am
finding that Italy has been providing us with more and
more intriguing artists). Everything you have grown to
love about Bad Sector is demonstrated on this album.
Xela is a re-mastered recording of the backing tape used
in the Sonderangebot performance in Berlin, 1996; a half
hour track exhibiting the classic Bad Sector grindy
drones, raw textures, intense mechanical accents, and
distinct arpeggios. The CD and inserts are cased in a
heavy metal box decorated with a spattering of paint and
the like. Not only can you have another beautiful album
by Bad Sector, you can own an eye-catching piece of
work among the plastic jewel cases on your rack! Look
for other Bad Sector discs, such as The Harrow,
Polonoid, and Dolmen Factory. It seems as though most
of what he has released is done in ridiculously small
print runs.
Limited to 989 copies. – Sarah Cassady -
Sephiroth – Cathedron
I have decided that anyone who claims to be a Cold
Meat Industry fan is in fact not such if Sephiroth’s
Cathedron is not already floating around in their CD
collection. This is a beautiful example of dark ambient at
its finest and should not be overlooked. This full-length
album gives us dark ominous drones, tempos that can
change direction as easily as the wind, powerful tribal
drum arrangements, and gently threatening sounds that
make up the melodies and fill in the body of each track.
Sephiroth brings forward compositions that sound real
and impose a cold, comfortable atmosphere. So far this
is the only release from Sephiroth, but if you’re lucky,
you can also find some of his early recordings under ‘Ulf
Soderberg’ – worth looking into if Sephiroth has turned
your head. All in all, it only took one spin of this disc
before I was officially addicted – highly recommended.
– Sarah Cassady
