Artwork for Das EP
Almost every Industrial fan out there knows who is Sebastian R. Komor. Komor made himself a name in the industrial scene by creating some of the best synths ever existed for Icon of Coil, one of the most important Future Pop bands.
After Machines Are Us, the band stopped its musical production. The project is still alive, as the band keeps playing some concerts, but after some years of absolutely no new material, and the growing popularity of Combichrist, Andy LaPlegua’s main project, the direction of Komor needed a 180° turn.
Soon, he met Renee Cooper, whom he later married. They agreed to move to Canada, where Renee resided, and started to work on her first album. Miss Komor, led to the creation of the Zombie Girl. Jenifer Parkin, also met Komor, and after knowing each other, they decided that Komor would produce the third album for Ayria, Hearts for Bullets.
Komor soon started to gain importance in the industrial scene. After helping to produce both projects, Alfa Matrix asked him to start a new project, by himself. After having a laugh, due to the name “Komor Kommando” he decided it was time to materialize his ideas from those long years working for every other project.
And so, the Das EP was born.
As Komor stated in an interview, the Das EP is full of previously non-existent sounds. The approach towards the production of the EP, was to make a completely innovative album, rather than using the common sounds that most Industrial bands are using lately.
Whether this was accomplished or not, the Das EP is a good release, especially if you enjoy the militaristic style of EBM. 4 out of 6 tracks from the album involve militar beats, along with different synths that actually sound fresh.
As soon as the Das EP was announced, it was bound to be a piece of work. Komor isn’t anymore your average composer anymore. Years of experience have given him the natural ability to rip out some great synths/beats and put them together to build up very good album releases and remixes.
Even though most of the album is brilliant, it also has its downsides.
Think of this album as a sine wave. That’s the feel the album gives. It’s introduction is marked by Love Your Neighbor, which is a very good track, but it’s felt rather slow. I was expecting a faster introduction, but indeed, it does the job very well.
Following, comes State of Destruction. This track, is probably the one that supports Komor’s main idea for this project the best. It involves a nice amount of odd beats that I had never heard before in a music track. I couldn’t help thinking in a couple of really old arcade games. They are very similar to the sounds made by firing ships in Tyrian. Perhaps that’s its source.
Sadly, there’s also a downside, just like in the sine wave. After those two tracks of well mixed beats and synths, comes Triggerfinger. It’s not a roughly bad track, but it’s kind of slow-paced, and after the full-speed of State of Destruction, it’s felt like a short circuit. That track, could particularly use some work.
The track I actually hate, is The Beat That Goes Ping. Again, it’s not that bad, but it comes after the closure of Beat Around The Bushes, which is by far, the best track of the Das EP. It wasn’t a wise decision to put a track without the militaristic touch of the previous one.
As mentioned before, the best track of this EP is probably Beat Around The Bushes. It’s a politically marked track, with a sample of Harry S. Truman’s inaugural speech. Although it does not involves new synths, beats or vocals, it’s a very good mixed track. The military beats blend beautifully with the context of the track.
Just as expected, it’s another good production by Sebastian Komor. Even though it has it’s flaws, it’s a nice release. The bad part is that it’s too short. Hopefully, we’ll hear more from Komor and this new project. This new approach is definitely a good idea.
