Artwork for We The Fallen

Brutality made audio. That’s it. That’s the only way of describing this album, which is one of the best Industrial albums of the year, if not the best.

After their last album on 2007, Psyclon Nine did some extensive touring here and there, before finally working in this album. Indeed, they spent a lot of time in the album, but definitely it was worthy. It is, perhaps, the best album by Psyclon Nine. Ever.

Even though I’m tagging the release as “Industrial album”, after listening to it a couple of times, I’m not sure if it is the correct tag. Psyclon has moved to a hole new concept of music. While the keyboard synths of Nero are still there, I’m not sure if it can still be considered purely Industrial. It sounds more like an Industrial Metal album.

This album, is not suited at all for Divine Infekt fans. The ones who didn’t like Crwn Thy Frnicatr will probably hate this one. Luckily, every one seems to like it. Take the vocals from INRI, but make them harsher. Take the guitar riffs from Crwn Thy Frnicatr, but make them heavier. Take also the same drum style, just a bit faster. Finally, take some other Metal elements, and fuse them all with Vlixx and Jon Siren.

There you have it. We, The Fallen.

A brutal introduction does not goes further than Bellum in Abyssus. This introduction though, is not focused on just being heavy. Soulless (The Makers Reflection) is a good advice of what you’ll be listening for the next hour. Almost no artificial sounds. Instead, an extensive use of guitar riffs and drums, covering the background with barely noticeable synths. It’s supposedly, Johan Van Roy helped Psyclon Nine with this introduction, but.. I can’t actually catch any element from him. They usually pop up immediately, making you look up the track to see if it was made by him.

Following up, the title track. We The Fallen. As I previously stated, this track (as is the whole album) is very, very good. But it’s not meant for purist, industrial fans. Psyclon Nine is moving towards a more metal sound, but this is not bad at all. They actually sound very good. The track involves heavy guitar riffs, along with a different drum style. A more acoustic one.

Nero’s vocals remained almost the same for this release. They are a bit more clear now. If you carefully pay attention you can understand the lyrics, something which simply wasn’t possible with Crwn Thy Frnicatr.

Another worthy song, is Heartworm. The whole concept of this album is based on the idea of Nero being a Heartworm, as he stated in an interview. He wanted to “look at people like emotional parasites, worming their way into the hearts of their victims in order to have some sort of influence on their actions”. (Wikipedia) I couldn’t help remembering Visceral Holocaust when I heard the introduction. It features the same drum solo, with a different speed. Also, the same synths Nero did for the previous album, can be heard in this track, but with guitars.

A track that is making the most noise, is Thy Serpent Tongue. I’ve heard nothing more than good comments about it. Some people consider it the best track in the album. The track features a repeating, cycled drum style with a background fully covered by guitar, just the way of some industrial metal tracks.

I could keep one describing every good track, but hell.. Every track is good. As the previous time, the album announces two pit stops. The first one is marked by Derelict (God Forsaken), just before Widowmaker. The following track is completely metal-based. Other grunts than those of Nero can be heard across the track. I didn’t like it that much, but it’s not bad.

The last stop, before the end of the album is Of Decay (An Exit), that takes just the same concept The Room had. An intriguing, silent introduction for the next track, Suicide Note Lullaby. Now, how I love this track. A slow paced introduction, followed a heavier bridge, and another slow paced interval. The guitar reminded me a lot of Diablo II. Don’t ask me why.

The album’s end is very slow. Both As One With The Flies and Under The Judas Tree are slow tracks, compared to the hit-and-run style of the previous tracks. This is a good end though, if you have the album in repeat mode. It ends slow, and as it starts again, you don’t hear a complete dephase of speed, as the introduction is not that fast.

All in all, I consider it a very good album. As stated before, it’s probably the best release of this year. While some pure industrial fans won’t enjoy it that much, underground music lovers who listen to Metal and Industrial will find this album a very interesting mix of both worlds.

Artwork of Until We Die/Severed Head

Johan Van Roy is one of the most important personalities in the industrial scene. With an extensive discography starting on 1988,Suicide Commando is a flag band in terms of Industrial/Harsh EBM bands. Suicide Commando’s last release, X:20, is a must have for every industrial fan, and it’s probably one of my favorite compilations. Ever.

Until We Die / Severed Head is a 7″ vinyl limited to 500 copies, containing 2 tracks with the same name. The album starts with Until We Die, which is another perspective from the traditional music Suicide Commando made until this moment. The same catchy, plastic synths are used through the track, but murder, heavy beats are something I was missing in new releases since Amduscia’s Madness in Abyss.

Those beats, are simply incredible.

Although it’s not the common Van Roy’s style, it actually sounds good. Very good. The first I listened this track, it surprised me as I was expecting to be another release, with a similar style. After listening to it a couple of times, my immediate reaction was “Hey, I like it!”.

Following Until We Die, Severed Head kicks in. On the other side, this is more of a typical Suicide Commando track. Plastic synths with deflated beats. Not as harsh as Power Noise beats, not as weak as everything else.

As usual, a track involving murder uses samples from a “murder scene”. The vocals describe how someone was killed, raped and cannibalized. How sweet.

As a side note, Die Motherfucker Die’s artwork, the next Suicide Commando’s release, will be a hammer covered in blood. Hope to hear soon from Johan Van Roy. A new album is very much needed.

Album art for Evangelion

Have you ever had a dream? A dream so good you wished you would never wake up? Behemoth is a band known for moving from disappointment to incredible success with each release they make (withing the same release). Transforming from Black to Death Metal, and becoming one of the most popular Metal bands there is.

Evangelion (the dream) is inevitably one of the best albums of the year, spawned by a band with so many followers it just “ain’t  right”, Behemoth proves once again that there is a reason for them reaching the place they are in (no, not Mall Kids for you CoF and D.Burger fans out there)… Skill.

Like so many albums lately, this one has a fast and completely independent introductory song: It definitely serves its purpose of announcing “You WANT to listen this album”, and still manages to be a song by itself. I hope they play Daimonos as the opening song for this album’s tour.

Shemhamforash was one of the two songs everyone got to listen ages ago, and its order in this album, when followed by the gargantuan Ov Fire and the Void declares one thing: There are monsters hiding beyond track 3 ov this album!

There seems to be some sort of a break in the form of track 4, surely it is only the silence before a storm. He Who Breeds Pestilence is one of the most powerful tracks in the album, and one of my personal Behemoth favourites. It has Inferno’s speed as a base, and a colossal monument built by everyone else: This is a song that has it all.

Following Demigod’s footsteps, this album has a very powerful blast of songs between the introduction and the last song,  Seed ov I and Defiling Morality ov Black God are perfect examples of this, while MoBG lacks the power SSS has, it tries to get there… and makes you want to slow down and view the album from a different perspective.

Lucifer is the longest and slowest of all tracks in the album, does that mean it is lame? Definitely not! Boring? For about 43 seconds, I am unsure as to what they were trying to do with this track, for it does not sound Behemothish at all but it is not necessarily a bad one. Only out of place… maybe.

This year’s Behemoth release is a monster. It has good songs, great songs and slow songs. Not exactly “extremely bad songs” but it has boring moments in a couple of songs (thank you repetition). Overall? An album that should be part of any collection, it can be easily appreciated by any Metal fan. It lacks “I’m gonna throw up” death growls and brutal hit-songs. Ov Fire and the Void is already a great song but it is also one of the slowest ones in the entire album… maybe next time?

Visit Behemoth @ MySpace

Album art for Alle Lust Will Ewigkeit

Thomas Rainer has made himself a name making music with L’ Âme Immortelle since 1996. However, it was not until 2007 that he decided to start making music under the moniker Nachtmahr, its second album released only a year after the project was born.

Fortunately (and incredibly), a third release hit store shelves this year.

It would appear Alle Lust Will Ewigkeit was an album designed to terrorize dance-floors with its incredible rhythm and unstoppable beats. An amazing album that can be danced from beginning to end (repeat, and repeat again).

The album’s intro song (and title track) is filled with Nachtmahr’s war theme.  Although it is the slowest song in the entire album, it is nothing but a welcome message to the monster that follows right away.  Code: Red starts as a noisy, very rhythmic song that evolves into a completely different and entertaining atmosphere. If I could give this song a nickname, it would simply be “tease”, for it is only a warm up for the entire album.

Tanzdiktator is the first killer song in this album (since Code:Red is only the beginning of the massacre), together with Klingen and Vendetta they can summon a very pleasant and energetic atmosphere which only weakness is that it does not last forever. I have not had the opportunity yet but if the entire second block of this album were played together, it could easily fade away in the blink of an eye.

The third block in the album, starting with Alpha/Omega loses power but retains danceability and speed, it is probably the slowest part of the album, while it can be enjoyed more it lacks the power found in the first batch of songs.

Träume is the second teasing song I found in this album, it is a good song and combined with the following War On The Dance Floor, it is an excellent final blow to the album: When I first got this album, War On The Dance Floor was the song that caught my eye first, and it certainly proved to be worthy of its name! While it is not my favourite song in the album, it is another killer track. Add Moerder to the equation, and you get one of the most powerful final songs you will ever find in an album. The funny thing about the final song is that it prepares you for the first song again, and you soon find yourself listening the album again, and again, and again, and again.

My first favourite dance-focused album for 2009, if this is the direction Rainer’s Nachtmahr has decided to take, I may never hop out of this train.

Let us hope 2010 sees another release.

Visit Nachtmahr @ MySpace

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.

Poster for World Magnetic Tour '09

Metallica is one of the most influent bands from the Metal scene. Considered one of “The big 4” from Thrash Metal, they have walked a long way across the years, with 9 studio albums and over 45 singles.

After 10 years of total absence from Mexico, Metallica decided it was time to come back to record their live DVD. Personally, it’s the strangest concert I’ve been, and probably the strangest thing I’ve ever done. But hell. It was good.

It was about 3. I was connected, waiting for my ex girlfriend to appear so I could talk to her (again) when little Kika asked me if I wanted to go. The first thing I thought was “Hell. It’s been a long time since they were here. It’s ‘Foro Sol‘. It’ll be a hell. More than 50 K people jumping at the same time. “The DVD will be recorded there. It’s bound to be great”. So the answer was “Yes, I want to go, but I don’t have the money…”

The answer, was the first not-planned thing of the day. “Hell. I didn’t ask you if you have the money. Do you want to go?” After what seemed an eternity of planning, I finally found out she lives 5 minutes away from my house.

We got to Foro Sol at around 7:30. Resorte was finishing its act, and Avenged Sevenfold was about to play. After buying shirts, we went in. There was no single free space. Every single bit of the stadium was full. We had tickets on the very front (Oh yeah…) so we only had to manage our way to the scenario.

We waited a little bit more than an hour. The audio team started to test the instruments somewhere around 9:00. In the mean time, I lent my lighter to one of the ugliest guys I’ve ever seen in my life so he could lit his marijuana cig. It smell like absolute crap, obviously. I had a great laugh when I saw what it really was.

Five minutes after 10:00, the lights went out. The sound from the 4 audio towers was suppressed by the shouts of the fans. Each and every hand around the stadium was high in the air, receiving Metallica. The air was filled with the sound of the first guitar riff, from That Was Just Your Life, from Death Magnetic.

As soon as it ended, the stadium was quickly hit by The End Of The Line, from the same album. I must admit I didn’t actually like the new material of Metallica but I just couldn’t help shouting and jumping the way a true fan does. It simply sounded astonishing.

I was most of the time with Kika, but we also were with D, a friend of hers. She studied Audio Engineering at a university in Canada, and actually, she was asked to work with the audio team of Metallica. After having a look to the tent that held the equipment, she told us that they did brought good equipment. It surely sounded gorgeous.

The band kept on playing some tracks from Death Magnetic and a couple of known tracks across their discography. The concert had a good pace, but it seemed as if people started to tire out from hearing their new material. Everyone was waiting for the real Thrash Metal that Metallica was famous for.

Soon, the first good tracks from the Black Album made their appearance. Sad But True and The Unforgiven filled the night. It was obvious, yet impressive the response of the public. With each of those songs, the public gained energy.

All of that energy, only served a purpose. Jump. Punch. Headbang. Shout out “Obey your master!!”

Master of Puppets at least by twice its duration. It was great to hear more than 50 thousand people shouting with James Hetfield “Master!”. With that overload of energy, I thought the concert was near its end. I couldn’t be more wrong.

Metallica kept playing with the public backing them up. Soon, the first notes of the most expected song were heard. Enter Sandman came at last, to close their presentation. The noise was so intense, that even though I was around 20 meters away from the scenario, I couldn’t hear the first part of the lyrics. The only thing that was heard was Hetfield’s voice fused with the stadium. Two mortars were placed at each end of the scenario. Heat could be felt each time they fired, along with the fireworks.

Around 1:00 AM, both Ulrich and Hetfield asked the public for one last effort. One last effort, to Seek and Destroy. Hell was broken loose. Almost no slam was present during the concert, but during those last five minutes, no one stayed put. After 10 years of total absence, Metallica made the stadium tremble. They made a good job, indeed.

As an overall conclusion, it was a great show. 3 hours flied as if they were 5 minutes. My neck hurted for the headbanging, my back had a number of bruises, I was extremely thirsty and I had a headache due to marijuana smokers. But hey, it was a fuckin’ great show.

Kika, once again, thank you. I’d kick asses with you again, and all the other stuff too anytime you want.

Artwork for Reformation 1

How about good, old Future Pop? The recently published track from Dawn of Ashes made me think in how Apoptygma Berzerk died completely, after founding the very same Future Pop along with VNV Nation. It’s sad when top notch bands decide to change their style, which sometimes even happens with the departure of a member. The results are almost never good. A change in a very good, almost always means the end of it.

VNV Nation is a curious band in this aspect. Although they were the co-founders of Future Pop, their career fell when they started to gain popularity, particularly in the main stream sector. Three albums were published, Advance and Follow, Praise The Fallen and Empires. The fourth studio release of the band was named Futureperfect, and that’s when VNV Nation started to loose their original followers, due to the fact that someone out of the band started to manage them. The songs were no longer written by Ronan Harris, and even their image changed. Everyone agrees that they looked like rockers.

Time passed, Futureperfect was released and it made its underground fans rage. Matter + Form was later released, and with it, the decision of VNV Nation to go back to its origins. Wise decision. Judgement hit the market on 2007, and rumors started spreading that it would be the last VNV Nation album.

I have been listening to them since Futureperfect, but the first tracks I actually listened from them were Honour, a track I lost for nearly 5 years which I was glad to find later, and Legion, from a CD-R lent to me by my English teacher (yes, my English teacher) Actually, it was my introduction to the whole Industrial scene. Professor Alan, wherever you may be, I actually thank you from showing me the music I truly love.

Anyway, the point is, that VNV Nation is one of the pioneers of Future Pop. Although they saw better times, the fact is that it’s fan base is continually growing, and certainly the rumors were just… rumors… VNV Nation didn’t stop with Judgement, they kept on touring and a new album named Of Faith Power and Glory that will be released on June of this year.

This album is a live compilation of concerts from 2005 to 2008. It is a compilation that leaves both good and bad tastes. It includes material from Praise The Fallen, Matter + Form and Judgment. The tracks that were included are very good I must say, and my VNV Nation live is definitely worth my respect. The sad part, is that there’s no material at all from Advance and Follow or Empires, their very first albums. Perhaps it’s that way, due that their latest albums have a bigger commercial impact.

The first track from the compilation is Joy from Praise the Fallen. When I heard it, I couldn’t hold a: WOW. It simply sounds epic. It was curious to hear a track which originally has heavily modified vocals, with nothing more than the pure voice of Ronan Harris. Indeed, it’s a very good track, and it’s worth the introduction. A fast-paced, powerful and epic track to kickstart a compilation of VNV Nation’s career.

Chrome, is another impressive track. I couldn’t help comparing it to the album version. Five times at least. I couldn’t really get big differences, other than the public shouting at the background. Another point for VNV Nation. Real vocal work.

The compilation keeps on, to the switch to Brooklyn’s concert. Within it, VNV Nation dedicated Procession, again from Praise The Fallen to their all-time fans. It simply sounds overpowered. A fast track, with the distinctive touch of VNV Nation’s origins. The box edition also features a bonus disc, with remixes and rare material, containing also a couple of unreleased tracks.

A very good release from VNV Nation. The lack of old material is made up with a bonus disc, along with a very good work of vocals fromm Ronan Harris. A well worked compilation for one of the legends, not only from Future Pop, but also from Industral music itself. A legend that shouts: Victory! Not Vengeance.

Poster for Festival Kinetik 2.0

Festival Kinetik is a one of a kind gig. It takes place once a year in Montreal,Canada, and it features some of the best Industrial bands in the world. This year: Ayria, Terrorfakt, Grendel, Amduscia, Life Cried, Soman, XP8, Aesthethic Perfection, among others are taking over the scenario of the Usine C.

Ydolon should be sleeping by now, so I’m posting some videos recorded by him:

Phase 1.0 Ayria and Terrorfakt.

Phase 2.0 Reaper, Amduscia and Grendel.

Phase 3.0 No videos, Ydolon felt sick.

Phase 4.0 FGFC820, Assemblage23, Icon Of Coil and XP8.

Note from Ydolon: Take into account I filmed those with a photographic camera, sorry about that. I also missed Phase 3.0 because something I ate before Phase 2.0 made me sick. I live in Montreal, why that day?!?! I won’t review this one either, but next year I will.

Album art for Saurian Exorcisms

Karl Sanders has always been known as the frontman and mastermind behind Nile, which has many elements (including its name) from Egypyian mythology/history/themes, along with a lot of Lovecraftian data. In 2004, the album Saurian Meditation was released as the first album of his solo project. Unlike his main project Nile, this is not a Death Metal (Brutal, Technical… take your pick) band: It focuses on the symphonic and [formerly] Egyptian part of that music.

As a second release, Saurian Exorcisms takes more paths and musical styles than its predecessor. Whereas Saurian Meditation focused solely on Egyptian/Lovecraftian themes and used music styles similar to the former, Saurian Exorcisms draws in a wider variety of themes and elements, resulting in a similar, yet different sound.

Like its predecessor, the album is filled with relaxing and ambient-like melodies that, while they are slow and melodic, are very powerful and energizing. From the beginning, real Nile fans will easily identify Karl’s guitar rhythms. Of course, as an ambient music release it lacks the kind of speed and growling a Death Metal album has, yet the symphonic drumming is there, the guitars (acoustic) are there. I was surprised to hear all kinds of vocals in this album: I was expecting more simple – less filling vocals like the ones in the first album, however there were few to none. From beginning to end one can hear all kinds of vocals, some difficult to understand.

I was also surprised to read that Karl was the performer behind all instruments and even did some vocals himself. I was already sure he knew how to play a wide variety of instruments but never did I think he could play all the different varieties that can be heard throughout Saurian Exorcisms

I find this kind of quiet yet fast music to be quite relaxing and often listen to it when I am reading or doing something that doesn’t require a lot of energy, however I found a little problem doing that with this release, for its genre it shifts rhythms a lot and adds elements that can be somehow annoying from time to time. I loved the new elements on this album, but the vocal/chant part was a little exaggerated. Where there should be more silent parts and silences there are some sort of vocals in the background or louder than they should be (to be perfect).

Overall it is a great album, an excellent follow up. I found great that there were new themes and types of music. It wasn’t so great however that in some parts it was overdone and some thing ruined what could have been a simpler, great part of a song.

Album art for :Fuckit:

Rudy Ratzinger is well known in the Industrial scene for his project :wumspcut:, which takes the release/show problems other industrial bands have to the extreme: No shows at all and limited editions that make fans kill each other for them, and there are also re-releases of material that leave you with no space and virtually the same tracks. :wumpscut: is one of those bands that have extremely good songs and albums and extremely bad songs and albums, with a yearly release of +25 tracks this is easy to accomplish, specially if you look into all the material that is released, remixed, re-released and re-remixed (duh!).

:Fuckit: will probably make a lot of old-:wumpscut: fans very happy, this album reminded me a lot to Boeses Junges Fleisch, probably because it is one of my favorite albums. The album is dark and has a very good danceability.

The introductory track is tricky, for basically all the samples that were once posted in :wumpscut:’s MySpace profile are there. It is like a preludium to something great, like a bombd waiting to explode. And then it hits.

The first few beats in the song The Boo take you to a distant place, I was surprised to hear a very emotive, yet dark sound that began with this song, and did not fade until the album started again (thank you iPod repeat). I was surprised to see how time flew the first time I went through the album, at first I felt it was an extremely fast album, but I soon realized it was me and not the album that was going fast.

I first divided the album to listen the not-remixed tracks, but when the time came to listen both albums together it was a much better experience than I expected. While there are some slow songs and as a consequence, many slow remixes: With some few exceptions (Few. I mean it), even the remixes are quite fast, fast enough to be danced, a feature that has been forgotten in many :wumpscut: releases like Evoke.

While I was only able to get a 2cd edition in my hands, I am placing an order on a :w: box to get the DJ Dwarf Nine remix album for :Fuckit:. In past releases I only bought normal editions because, sincerely, they were too slow or contained little if no fast tracks. If you have the money, get a box, it will be worth it.

While :Fuckit: is not a great shift in direction for :wumpscut:, it does go back to a time when there were still very agressive and fast tracks, but not enough to be compared to tracks like Mother or Black Death. Very good album overall: Great songs, lyrics, cover art, remixes… what it lacked was less sampling and more “violence”. And of course, it needs live shows.

Grow more arms, Rudy (or clone yourself)! Your fans need you!