The coolest bands always have the most diverse crowds

Not so much a pet hate but rather a pet regret is showing up at a venue after the support has finished, only to discover you missed a quality act.

Such was the case when we went to see Forces and The Night Terrors back in April. The occasion was an ANZAC long weekend of gigs — the only Australian goth industrial EBM festival that is Fiend Fest was also on that weekend — and the venue was the Melbourne hipster hive mind that is Howler.

But don’t hold against them the fact that there were bicycle racks filled with fixies — it’s actually a pretty cool venue.

The artist we had just missed as we walked in was Italo disco man Fabio Umberto. Now I like my electronic music hard and dark and filthy and prior to the event I’d made my feelings clear on the venue’s Facebook page with some mildly disparaging comment about the genre. Yet, as we entered the venue, a mate grabbed me to point out just how awesome this dude was and had I seen it?

Said mate happens to be a long-haired, tattooed, leather jacket-wearing, bass playing maniac who plays savagely brutal blackened thrash metal. When someone like this points out the merits of an electronic artist — and particularly an Italo disco electronic music artist —it’s probably because he’s onto something.

This was to be a theme throughout the rest of the night. The best band seem to have the most mixed and diverse crowds. But more on that later.

FORCES LIVE

Melbourne’s electronic synth duo Forces were up next. The electro music pair of Alex and Tom are building quite a following, if the number of faces also seen at previous Forces gigs is anything to go by (airplay on Triple J doesn’t hurt either).

Seeing Forces live is always a memorable experience. One guy presses play on his laptop to pipe out pre-recorded electronic sounds, while muttering incomprehensible words into a reverb-drowned microphone, all the while making awkward, jerking movements on stage; the other is always in his darkest sunglasses and thick bomber jacket, not moving anywhere while he’s stationed at his synthesised drum pads with a look of such intensity it could stun a small child.

It shouldn’t work. But it does.

I love the way Forces do this and evidently so do all those people who keep showing up at their gigs. I’ve seen Forces live half a dozen times and the best description that most seem to agree on is that it is reminiscent of an industrial music gig in Canada somewhere back in the ’80s with Skinny Puppy. Except, with that modern-sounding synth touch.

Melbourne's Forces live. Metal heads (only an arm is visible) are in the front row.

At the risk of saying something teeth-grindingly lame, it’s the live ‘vibe’ of Forces that I like most. While the electro Forces sound is magnificent, it’s the feeling of a dark performance in a warehouse, where you’re one of a crowd of miscreants, discovering something new and important, that brings me and others back — and it’s open to anyone who wants it.

Forces aren’t strictly about industrial music, even though EBM and industrial music lovers can strongly identify with this sound.

Force aren’t strictly about minimal, bleepy electronics, even though I’ve see veteran electronic music producers salivate over some of the sounds they come up with.

Forces aren’t even about being hipsters (indie rock anyone?) despite the strong hipsterish showing at every gig.

And Forces certainly are not metal heads, yet the front row at this Forces gig had three metal heads absolutely digging this massive electronically synthesized, 100 per cent guitar-free sound.

As I said, the coolest bands always have the most diverse following.

My only complaint? Perhaps I’m biased because I’ve loved metal since I was 10 years old…

Forces would bring the roof down if they added a live guitarist. Even if it’s just for the slow, chugging tracks. Those electronic numbers would become slow-paced monster headbangers.

THE NIGHT TERRORS

What is the band you’ve seen live more than any other? I was thinking about this the other day and through various circumstances over the years, for me it would have to be The Night Terrors.

I wish it were Iron Maiden, who I saw on five occasions over two tours, but alas the ticket prices, beer prices, merch prices, and relative scarcity of Australian Iron Maiden tours makes it a difficult proposition.

So Night Terrors is the local band (for local people, we’ll have no trouble here — see what I did there?) that I’ve seen live more than any other.

I could give you a blow-by-blow account of The Night Terrors at this gig but you don’t really want that because there are a million live gig reports out there.

Rather, the following anecdote will explain what The Night Terrors are about...

The Night Terrors live. To the left is the theremin.

It was my first ever Night Terrors gig, held eight or so years ago at that wonderfully warm and grotty little venue that is the now defunct Arthouse Hotel. And seeing this band live for the first time was strange. Mesmerising. Heavy. Hypnotic. All of it coming from the one source.

There was the theremin, played in full congress with the rest of the band as a legitimately in-key, actual live instrument. The first time I heard and most importantly saw this exotic device get played, I was left with a feeling of transfixed wonderment. The lauding expletive-ridden comments of other Arthouse punters at the end of the night suggests it wasn’t just me who felt that way.

Then there was the drummer. From that time onwards I seem to recall The Night Terrors beats were helmed by monster drummers, octopus sticksmen who could fill you with the warm comfort of knowing you’ll never be anywhere near that good.

One night (not at this first ever Night Terrors gig, but a subsequent one) they put on a show at another dingey venue with a small stage. This was back in the era of when smoking inside venues was still allowed, so with one song to go, the drummer lit up behind the kit.

I was looking at him and he just finished rolling his own cigarette when he started playing, that lit fag hanging from a corner of his mouth. Suddenly, his hand reached to his face in a panic, maniacally rubbing his eye. Turns out he got cigarette smoke straight in his eye — and like a true monster drummer, he just kept on playing. With one hand. While desperately wiping smoke out of his eye with the other.

Then there was the synth. Back at the Arthouse, during warm-up sound check, the in-house sound guy got the keys player to play her synth, remaking “That’s a rock n’ roll synth” at the kicking sounds it produced through the ‘well loved’ Arthouse PA.

And then there was that bass, Night Terrors front-man Miles’ other instrument. Played like a boss, according to my guitar-mad drinking buddy that night. I’ll take his word for it, even though I am not a musician myself (although I am exceptionally good at listening to music)

So that was my first ever Night Terrors gig. You could tell who there had seen them for the first night. Half of them uttered words to the effect of “that was fu***d up” — in the most admiring and best possible way of course.

I did feel for her. Her hair kept swishing around, which in turn kept obscuring her face. But what a trooper for keeping on playing with hair-impaired vision — Lord knows, I would have gone crazy if it was me.

So over the years and various occasions since during which I have seen The Night Terrors live, there have been changes in drummers, synth players and the overall direction.

There was the all-over-the-place-sounding, improvised feel of The Night Terrors from a couple of years after I first saw them live. Was it jazz? Free form? Impro? As I said, I have zero music-making ability. But it was all over the place chaos.

There was the crazy, musical virtuoso, stare-in-wonderment feel of The Night Terrors from when I first discovered them. I’ve already told you about that and the effect it had on the Arthouse punters whose minds — accustomed as they were mostly to simple punk riffs — were expanded by the enchanting sound of the theremin.

And then there’s recent Night Terrors sound, perhaps slightly more 4/4, or dare I say, more accessible? I’m going to call space — just space, not space rock, although it’s pretty rockin’ — for lack of a better term.

There’s probably a whole lot more Night Terrors in between.

Does that description do justice to the night? On this occasion, the gig was to promote The Night Terrors’ Spiral Vortex album launch.

As they were playing, I looked around at some of the faces, caught a conversation or two in the toilets, and I was reminded of my own first Night Terrors gig from all those years ago. The strange, mesmerising, heavy and hypnotic effect was as apparent on new faces throughout the dark room as it was back at the Arthouse.

More to the point, The Night Terrors sound may have changed over the years, but one thing remains constant with this band: they still make people’s heads spin when they’re seen for the first time.

The Night Terrors are many things to many people and this is always evident in the varied following that materialises at their gigs. Metal heads. Freaks. Hipsters and geeks.

As I said, the coolest bands always have the most diverse following.

Why I love the new Combichrist: We Love You album

The new album from Combichrist – We Love You, has been on super high rotation this past fortnight. Combichrist album number seven is the latest addition to the Combichrist discography and I can tell you, hands down, this release has re-invigorated my love for this band. It’s also sparked renewed personal interest in EBM, industrial, aggrotech and whatever else the kids call it these days.

According to my LastFM stats I played Combichrist 264 times in one week. That’s because I’m one of those people who just loves to quantify their favourite music. However, not everyone loves the We Love You album. I’ve had fierce debates with friends about this album’s merits, and predictably there has been no shortage of naysayers on the internet.

If it’s a matter of personal taste then that’s cool by me. However, I’m not convinced that many of the complaints that I’ve heard about the We Love You album are entirely legitimate.

Here are several reason why Combichrist: We Love You rocks out.

IT HAS GUITARS!?

What’s that? The new Combichrist album has *God forbid* guitars!? Aha! This must be a sign that they’re suffering from an identity crisis. No doubt those Rammstein guys had something to do with it on that world tour they did together, leading Combichrist away from the path of holy electro synth EBM purity.

Yes, the We Love You album has plenty of guitars. They’re not subtly ‘integrated’ either, buried behind the synths and other layers as many terror banana artists have been known to do. These are full, shred-driven tracks with minimal electronics.

And apparently that’s not allowed, if the great number of complaints about the guitars are an indicator.

You know who else played exclusively with either guitars or synths — and was then famously praised for doing a complete about face? How about Ulver. Ministry. Trent Reznor. Or if you want to dig deeply, how about that most revered of techno, acid house and Belgian New Beat producers, Praga Khan, the brains behind Lords Of Acid?

If you stopped enjoying industrial music when Throbbing Gristle stopped using tape loops, well that’s your right. But I just don’t buy the argument from the EBM police that the inclusion of prominent guitars automatically detracts from the Combichrist or EBM industrial aggrotech identity, or whatever the hell ‘it’ is.

You know where the name Combichrist came from? From a zine, published during Andy LaPlegua’s punk days. You know, when he was the vocalist for a punk band? A band that played those dirty, stinking, non-EBM-industrial guitars.

But let’s just say that if the We Love You Album did focus exclusively on synths, it raises the question of…

WHAT ELSE WAS SUPPOSED TO GO ON THE ALBUM?

I’m going to have a hard time supporting this bit of my argument, so here goes.

To be an artist who releases multiple albums is to walk the path of a moral dilemma.

That’s because when you release your first album, the second album better be different to the first one — but not too different, mind you. If you don’t change it enough, you’re stagnating. If you change too much, you annoy those fans who were there ‘from the beginning’.

The old adage that you can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but never all of the people all of the time, rings true here (see people's listening habits below as to how widespread this is). You tread an ever-changing, nebulous line because no matter what you do, according to someone, somewhere on the internet you’ll always be wrong.

 Combichrist listening stats according to LastFM. As you can tell, everyone
has their favourite (the ones with the hearts are my personal ones).

There are 13 tracks of varying lengths on the We Love You album. Three and a half tracks are primarily guitar-based: The Evil In Me, Love Is A Razorblade, Retreat Hell Pt. 1 and half of Retreat Hell Pt. 2 (half of this track is dodgy ‘ambient’ recording of some sort mixed with other sounds).

The remaining three quarters of the album is solid, comfortably familiar, electronic, synth-driven tracks, with either minimal guitars or none at all.

And that is the point that I think has been lost in translation. There’s very little filler (save for the stuffing around on the last track) on We Love You. There are half a dozen tracks of pure unadulterated electronic fun, plus a couple of toned down or more average ones. For me, the rest of the album just doesn’t feel like it’s packed with that all-too-common affliction found on so many electronic albums in this genre — filler.

Let’s face a fact: critically acclaimed electronic albums where 100 per cent of all the compositions are certified genius just don’t come round that often. Unless you’re Kraftwerk or Giorgio Moroder, fans are not going to drop to their knees at the mention of every track on even your very best full-length effort. In fact, even a very good album will still have the trusted standout tracks, which of course means there will be all those other lesser well known (stand in? sit in?) tracks. These selections will inevitably be thought of by many as filler, by virtue of the fact that they’re not soul-touchingly awesome like the standouts.

On We Love You, a brave attempt was made to do something genuinely left-of-centre with the tracks that aren’t barn-stormers. The exercise happens to involve guitars and it presents a new dimension. And it’s still Combichrist.

But you know what? Even if you’re still not convinced of the merits of the We Love You album due to the mere presence of a couple of stringed instruments, this doesn’t change the fact that…

THE ELECTRONIC TRACKS STILL ROCK

The pre-album single, From My Cold Dead Hands may not be the most memorable track, but I assure you it grows on you. I know this, because I bought the single and didn’t think too much of it at first. Repeated listens changed that.

I also had the privilege of being the first person to play a legitimate copy of this song at a club down here in Melbourne. It worked, and by that I mean it did everything you expect of a dancefloor track: it was fun, it got people moving and dancing, and I'm sure it would become a recognised and satisfying floor filler if it got played enough.

As for the album proper, there are no shortage of tracks which you'll instantly recognise, from the moment you hear them, for what they're meant to be: club hits like We Rule The World Motherfuckers and Every Day Is War. They are pure Combichrist, electronic anthem action, dancefloor assault fodder of the best kind, designed and built to honestly do one thing: rock out and dance your arse off.

The track Maggots At The Party ticks every one of those boxes, which makes it in my view everything that is great about this band.

Combichrist: Maggots At The Party

I could tell you how much I love this song but I think I’ll just repeat the YouTube comment I left instead (when I was in an admittedly excited state).

“Andy has absolutely nailed it on this track. A massive head banging sound. High-larious non-sensical lyrics. And a vibe that's dripping with tongue-in-cheek hedonism. The party on this track rocks so hard, if it were capable of being any more fun it'd cause cardiac arrests.”

Maggots At The Party is another Electrohead or This Shit Will Fcuk You Up. It’s unashamedly meant to be an anthem, a sing-a-along, a booty shaker and headbanger. Yet I’ve heard all sorts of criticisms, from the fact that the lead synth sounds suspiciously like a guitar to the lack of depth to the lyrics.

Which is all well and good I suppose, assuming one crucial thing is overlooked when it comes to Combichrist, namely…

IT’S ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN

It still astounds me when I hear complaints about Combichrist lyrics. Notwithstanding the fact that English ain’t Andy LaPlegua’s first language, the mere fact that anyone would search for deeper significance in Combichrist lyrics suggests that something in the listener’s life is being taken rather too seriously.

Combichrist has always been about partying and hedonism and rocking out. About drinking and getting wasted. About repetitive choruses. Inane statements. But always topped in thick layers of fatalism. Party-fatalism if you may.

If you’re searching for profound and sentimental meaning in EBM industrial lyrics, you should follow VNV Nation and Stromkern (or for unintentionally hilarious lyrics, Centhron and Funker Vogt rarely disappoint).

Indeed, Combichrist lyrics are a common target for the band’s detractors. One could go on and on about how this accusation — as much as it is a valid indictment of a Norwegian man’s lesser grasp of English expression and syntax — is simply barking up the wrong tree. Instead of saying that guitars are not what Combichrist is about, the charge should be that “serious” is not what Combichrist is about.

As I said, there’s a lot to be said here. So instead I’ll let the following example speak for itself.

Firstly, watch this video. Or at least watch half of it. Bear with me, I assure you this is entirely relevant.

This track is called Treat Me Like A Pirate by hip hop crew Turquoise Jeep. They became popular after releasing some pretty funny videos on YouTube, albeit in the so-bad-it’s-good category. One of their videos has been viewed more than 10,000,000 times. And who could argue, what with lyrics like the following?

“Treat me like a pirate”

“And give me that booty”

“Got my long sword not to kill but to pleasure”

“Deep sea diving, searching for her treasure”

Now, below is a Combichrist live video (shot on someone’s phone?) when the crew were finishing their recent US tour. If you CBF watching, it’s Combichrist making a surprise introduction of the Turquoise Jeep crew on stage — where they perform Treat Me Like A Pirate together.

At a Combichrist concert.

Apart from being a great rendition, this moment says more to me than anything else about just where this band is at — and where their fans should be at. The EBM police would be outraged!

In conclusion, there’s a lot to love about the We Love You album. Yes, there were many who were shocked by the inclusion of guitars, and this has elicited many mixed feelings.

It’s radically different (I’m not counting the No Redemption soundtrack as a spiritual predecessor — it was a soundtrack commissioned for a video game and it was created for a very specific context).

Maybe if you love both electronic and analogue music (i.e. synths and guitar) you’ll get it. Or maybe you’ll like it regardless. Whatever the case, the changes on We Love You are a brave move for which Andy LaPlegua is to be applauded.

I once posted how one of the problems with getting older is that it’s so much harder to get excited about new music. This is most likely as much due to biological reasons — the brain physically gets more set in its ways — as it is due to the inevitable fact that your favourite band or genre was always at its peak when you first fell in love with it.

That makes me something of a cynic when it comes to new music. And this old cynic has not been this excited about a new album in a very long time.

If you’re not enjoying the We Love You album then it’s possible you have an allergy to fun.

Now all Combichrist need to do is come back to Australia and rock out.

If they still do it, I'm even looking forward to one of those VIP pizza nights they do before the show.

They should call it... Maggots At The Pizza Party! See what I did there?

Vader: Polish death metal available at all good Salvation Army shops

So I found Vader at my local Salvation Army op shop (non-Aussies: an op shop is a thrift store). And by Vader I mean the Impressions In Blood album by Vader, the Polish death metal band that’s been around for decades.

I was furiously stuffing VHS tapes into my bag when I happened to spot this gem from the Vader discography. The Salvos store was doing a “five for a dollar” VHS cassette tape special so naturally I couldn’t resist enriching my personal film collection with quality titles like Bruce Lee Fights Back From The Grave…, famously filmed well after Bruce Lee had well and truly died.

Anyway, this Vader album was behind the front counter, hiding among the fresh summer hits of the ’90s and Irish party jigs compilations normally populating the CD section at Salvos store. It was going for a bargainous $4, so I had to get it.

Vader: Impressions In Blood

The Impressions In Blood death metal album is release number eight for Vader. For those who can tell the difference, it marks something of a stylistic change from the thumping, blast-beat-driven death metal brutality of earlier Vader albums. The vocals are now comprehensible (but they’re not clean vocals by any stretch of the imagination); there are fast bits and there are slow bits; it has some atmospheric synths here and there; and there is even some creepy ‘experimental’ drumming (on the track Field Of Heads) for good measure. It has a bit less to do with death metal than previous efforts like De Profundis or Litany or Revelations. Instead, it borrows heavy duty head-banging riff inspiration from thrash metal.

If you know what kind of subject matter Vader’s lyrics tend to deal with, then you may find it amusing that a Vader album was for sale at a Salvation Army store. If not, then see below.

My copy actually has this cardboard cover on the CD jewel case. So far, nothing too shocking. It looks a bit menacing but then again so does the artwork for Bruce Lee Fights Back From The Grave…

Now here’s the actual Impressions In Blood album artwork.

“Hey, that looks like something from Giger,” said the guy serving me as he went to insert the CD disc. Well… not quite. Where are the biomechanical designs? But he left it at that. Because if he’d seen the album track names and lyrics…

  

... he may have seen that there’s a track called Helleluyah!!! (God Is Dead)! That’s some serious anti-religious, blasphemous death metal right there. The lyrics to the track As Heavens Collide… roll with lines like “Religion, as opium to mankind / Oppressed by myths and lies / All bibles, written by the human race / Institution for the sheeps (sic)” (Polish death metal bands are known more for their mastery of sonic fierceness than for their grasp of English grammar).

For me, the discovery of a Vader CD at this specific location is kind of amusing, given that… WARNING: RANT COMING UP… the Salvation Army is at its core a highly organised and militant religious lobby group backed by an exceptionally slick PR machine.

This isn’t to say that the salvos don’t do a whole lot of essential good for those who are most vulnerable. It’s just that their moral code — derived from an interpretation of documents that predate the invention of electricity or the realisation that the earth is in round — thinks of you as less if you happen to be gay. And by “less” I mean you don’t deserve to live if, for example, you’re a dude who prefers other dudes.

If your dinner-date is nice to you but for no reason is an arsehole to the waiter, then guess what: your date is still an arsehole.

And a charitable organisation that is generous and caring to the most disadvantaged but is intentionally cold and cruel to a selected minority is still cold and cruel.

So I’m glad I didn’t mention anything about those blasphemous lyrics when I purchased Vader’s Impressions In Blood. Had I opened my big mouth, I may not have left the store with such fine new acquisitions. Instead, I may have left with nothing except a copy of Bruce Lee Fights Back From The Grave.