In news that is certain to disappoint alternative music fans
in the UK and abroad, the organisers behind the UK’s largest alternative music festival
have announced the event’s cancellation – after discovering they had forgotten
to book the venue.
Due to be held in August at Boughton Estate in Kettering,
Northamptonshire, Alt Fest was billed as “the largest outdoor alternative
festival ever staged”. More than 45,000 bands and performers were booked for
the 200-day event, playing across 97 different stages.
According to the organisers, everything was running smoothly
until an intern working at the Alt Fest office discovered that the venue had
not been booked.
“Sometimes, it’s the things that are most obvious that are
the easiest to get wrong,” said Alt Fest organiser P. I. Staker.
“We booked the bands, organised travel and accommodation,
and even raised £61,762 on Kickstarter just to pay for all of Thomas Rainer from
Nachtmahr’s uniforms. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, we
inadvertently forgot to book the venue. My booking agent said “don’t forget to
book the stage”. I thought he said “don’t forget to cook the sage”.
“Naturally, with less than a month to go before the event
kicks off, we immediately phoned the venue to try and sort it out. That’s when
we found out that Robbie Williams had booked the place for the next two years.”
According to a statement from Williams’ agent, the pop
artist offered to “perform some of that alternative music” at his shows.
“Forgetting to book the venue? We’ve all done it, so I totally
understand where these guys are coming from,” said the statement, quoting
Williams.
“So when I heard about the mixup I offered to do a couple of
songs from the artists that wouldn’t be playing. I might play pop music but I’m
still an open-minded sort of guy. So I started listening to some of the artists
on YouTube and I actually liked what I heard.
“I really liked that Dani Filth guy’s voice. And that Belgian
Suicide Commando orchestra, they were cool too. I was just about to call the
organisers and tell them that I’d be happy to perform a couple of those ‘alternative’
numbers when I heard some of that Faderhead music.
“That’s when I thought, no way, this music is waaay too
poppy for a Robbie Williams show. I sympathise with the organisers, I really
do, but I just can’t see myself playing music that sounds this poppy. My fans
might think I’ve gone soft.”
This article is satirical. It is entirely fictitious. With
the utmost sympathy to the fans, bands, and the organisers, it sucks if it
falls over. Here's genuinely hoping it gets sorted.
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.
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?
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
areslow 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.
So I once had this plan to make Top Tuesdays a regular
thing. The idea was to not be too clever, but to simply talk about what’s been
on high rotation this week.
After checking when I did the last one (because it was
totally going to be a regular thing) I found that it was… uh… just over a year
ago. So I should really be more consistent.
ALTERNATIVE AND UNDERGROUND MUSIC THIS WEEK
It sounds odd, but I have not enjoyed this week’s Top
Tuesday releases very much. Most of this week’s the items on high rotation this
week are the latest ‘discoveries’ from a secondhand metal collection I bought in June 2013 (‘novelties’ may be a more
appropriate term). A labour of love, every week I’ve managed to get through a
handful of albums from the original 200-CD lot, give or take a few.
At last count I’ve whittled it down to the last 70.
Now I’m rather keen to get through this lot before the end of
the year. Hence the high rotation of tracks which I may not be all that into.
After all, every true music nerd knows that to really understand an album, you
have to give it a proper listen to see if it grows on you. Of course, it could
be a grudge listen maybe, but it’s still a proper listen. Because how else can I
complain I didn’t get my money’s worth?
Here is what has received particular attention this week.
Very, Very Dead & Gory: A Veritable Paragon Of Wholesome Family Entertainment
The name is the best part about this band. And by “best part”
I mean this outfit has a funny name. And. Well, uhm… yeah.
Very, Very Dead & Gory was a Melbourne-based outfit
playing generic, thinly produced Aussie dickhead grind core. I mean that in the
best possible sense. I couldn’t understand any lyrics on A Veritable Paragon Of Wholesome Family Entertainment but I’m going
to assume that if one could, the prose would be masterfully hilarious. I’d like
to imagine that the guys recording this had a blast, just dicking around, drinking
(most likely) and making bad music. The music on this album is so dumb it’s fun.
Indeed, check out the shamelessly sampled Burroughs
Asshole (sic), a spoken word
sequence ripped from Naked Lunch
about a man whose asshole began to talk.
The closing track, Let
The Grass Grow, is a 12+ minute epic — of which 8 minutes consist entirely
of a recording of a lawnmower in action.
No doubt it was a brutal lawnmower.
Very, Very Dead & Gory: A Veritable Paragon Of Wholesome Family Entertainment.
Alas, the band name and album title are the best parts.
Emperor / Enslaved: Hordanes
Land
If you know your black metal then you’ll know why
this split album is historically significant. Two of black metal’s most important
acts made their ‘proper’ debut on this release.
Both Emperor and
Enslaved started out on this record by playing that atrociously-produced, fuzzed
out, shrieking, dangerous new music that became known as black metal (ok ultra
kvlt smartarse, yes, it’s technically second-generation black metal — and if you
can point that out, you’ve presumably also written to Metal Archives and asked
them to remove your band listing because someone on the internet got a hold of one
of your 50 hand-signed goat skin cassette pressings and uploaded the details on
the internet).
Where was I? On Hordanes
Land, both Emperor and Enslaved tried their hands at daring experimentation,
though it’s often hard to hear it properly because of album’s toilet-grade production.
Despite the ostensibily subversive nature of black metal, paradoxically,
black metal is also legendary for being so insular. Not in this case though: Emperor
sow the seeds of what would become super-dense guitar fuzz and keyboard
production (although the songs are essentially demo tracks); and Enslaved just
do some straight out weird sounds and arrangements.
It’s not surprise that both Emperor and Enslaved eventually
became black metal bands that took on densely produced, weird, progressive music
as a trademark sound — the latest Enslaved album RIITIIR
and Emperor main-dude Ihsahn’s solo work being perfect examples.
Generic, weak vaguely-thrash-inspired hardcore, with some
vague, equally generic metal bits.
I’ve given it three listens and it just doesn’t do it for
me. There are a couple of ok riffs and decent choruses but otherwise that’s it
— I just couldn’t find anything memorable here.
They’re from Melbourne, so that’s a plus, but this just isn’t
my cup of tea.
As I said at the start of the piece, you have to give it a
proper listen to see if it grows on you. After all, how else can I complain I
didn’t get my money’s worth?
Four of the EBM / industrial / aggrotech scene’s best known
performers have decided to form an industrial supergroup after they stumbled
across a satirical article on the internet that claimed they were forming an
industrial supergroup.
The group’s formation appears to have its roots in a
satirical story published in August 2013 titled Faderhead, Velvet Acid Christ and Psyclon Nine form supergroup. The story claimed the
front-man behind each band — Sami Mark Yahya, Bryan Erickson and Nero Bellum
respectively — had formed an electro-industrial supergroup called Misunderstood
Industrial Artists (M.I.A.).
According to the article, the name reflected a common
sentiment experienced by each artist over many years of being an industrial
music artist. For example, Psyclon 9’s Nero Bellum told of the many years of painful
misunderstanding that resulted from a botched chest tattoo.
“I’ve had my share of misunderstandings, just like Bryan and
Fadey,” Bellum is quoted as saying in the fictitious article. “The “Ubermensch”
tattoo on my chest is a perfect example. I asked the tattooist to write “Tumor
Wrench” on my chest in those big black letters but he got it all wrong, so
that’s how I ended up with this tattoo instead," he said.
The 'artwork' for the new 'album'.
Although the article clearly identified itself as being
satirical, the idea has nonetheless been
enthusiastically embraced by fans.
“It says that it is already out. Where can I listen to it?
Spotify?” enquired one fan on the official Velvet Acid Christ Facebook page. “So the article says your cd is out now. Where can I find a
digital copy” said another.
Indeed, so positive was the reception that it prompted Nachtmahr
front-man Thomas Rainer to personally call Faderhead's Sami Mark Yahya.
“If ever there was a misunderstood industrial musician, it
would have to be Thomas Rainer,” says Yahya.
“I was just there, hanging in a club, when I suddenly get
this phone call from Thomas Rainer. He told me he wanted to join, but I was apprehensive at first because I wasn't sure if he knew what hanging with Faderhead was all about. But then he started to get really emotional and told me how Misunderstood Industrial Artists finally made him realise that he wasn't
alone. That made me think. Maybe I can hang out with this guy?"
Rainer elaborates: “Fans may recall that my Nachtmahr Facebook page was taken down early this year. This was such a shock to me. How was I meant to know that my stage
show and wardrobe were emulating this so-called ‘totalitarian’ aesthetic? People
have so got the wrong idea about me. I’d never even heard of those ‘swastika’ things
until after the account was closed. I mean, this symbol is banned in Austria so
how would I possibly known what one looks like? Some people like camping and
fishing and others like fast cars or motorbikes. Me? I just happen to like military
uniforms and armbands. I don’t do it for attention, it’s just who I am and what
I like. Especially if there are nekkid hot chicks involved and they’re like totally making out.”
Misunderstood… by
Misunderstood Industrial Artists is out now.
Desolate
Ways is a four-track Australian hardcore techno / gabber (or whatever the kids
call it these days) by Australian dark n bass artist Paulblackout — and yes,
that’s the correct spelling. Many people use “Paul Blackout” but this is
incorrect, as is evident on the cover artwork below.
Desolate
Ways is a vinyl record released at the end of 2004. It came out on the now
defunct French hardcore techno label Epileptik Productions — and let me tell
you, the title track Desolate Ways
has to be one of the best hardcore techno in my (admittedly modest) collection.
HARDCORE,
GABBER AND SPEEDCORE
The standout
quality about Desolate Ways is the superb title track. Quite simply, brilliant,
dark and menacing — but not overdone. It’s fast (180bpm), pounding, analogue-sounding
hardcore techno, with rolling beats and with that ominous analogue edge to it.
Keep in mind that this was released a decade ago, from a guy who runs, lives
and breathes a dark drum n bass record label, and yet it still stands up magnificently.
In all
honesty, I could come up with words to describe how this track should make you
feel — but they’d be mere words. The first time I heard this I thought it was a
cool, nasty and somewhat fast kind of track. That was just the first 30 seconds
of the intro. Then the main kick on this track began and I was floored.
Unfortunately,
the Epileptik Productions label is now defunct so finding a legitimate online
version of this track may prove challenging. So take my word for it when I say
you can and totally should buy this record because. Last I checked, the Discogs page for this record was flogging it for less
than $2.
IS IT
SPEEDCORE?
The other
memorable thing about Desolate Ways
is that fact that it’s a fast record, but not unnecessarily or pretentiously
so.
I’ve encountered
this problem on various hardcore techno and gabber records I’ve acquired over
the years. While I like fast and hard music, the problem with a lot of the
speedcore I own is that it comes across as unnecessarily obnoxious.
Don’t get me
wrong, I love the fact that speedcore is legendary for its piss-taking qualities,
surpassed in its lack of seriousness only by grindcore and breakcore.
What
gets old pretty quickly is the way far too many artists engage in what is essentially a giant dick
swinging contest. Just
as with so many extreme
heavy metallers, who vie to see who can play the fastest and the hardest, so
too does this phenomenon exists among certain electronic artists making
hardcore and speedcore. Who can crank up their software and drum programming to
the limit of human endurance? Who cares if it’s any good?
Fortunately
that feeling does is not present on the Desolate
Ways record. Two of the tracks on Desolate
Ways clock in at 220bpm — that’s speedcore territory in anyone’s book — and
one comes close to 230bpm, yet it somehow all feels that it’s at the right
tempo. Sure, it’s still extreme music by mainstream standards, but it’s not
extreme music that’s trying to out-extreeme the extreme. It feels entirely
right, it sounds excellent, and the
result is an outstanding hardcore sound.
DESOLATE
WAYS ARTWORK
I once had
the pleasure of briefly meeting Paulblackout. This was at a gig in support of The
DJ Producer. Apart from being a nice bloke, he asked me, after I mentioned I
was a fan of Desolate Ways, if I owned
the real vinyl pressing, which of course I did.
As you can
see, the sleeve artwork is a creepy black and white negative-reversed photo on of
what looks like a desolate (see what I did there?) country road; nearby is a post
box or street number with the number 666.
It turns out
that this is an actual photo, shot (if memory serves me correctly) on a back-road
down here in the Australian state of Victoria. I don’t know if Paul took the
photo himself, but the fact that this is a local piece of “artwork” I think is pretty
cool.
The Desolate Ways sleeve artwork is in Melbourne, Australia, apparently.
It’s just a
shame, as mentioned previously, that the French hardcore techno label that
released this record, Epileptik Productions, is now defunct. Of course, Hardline Rekordingz, Paulblackout’s drum and bass music record
label, is very much still around and releasing killer hard tunes. Check it out.
I
own at least half a dozen releases from Australian dark drum and bass label
Killing Sheep Records. This record label has put out just over a dozen quality vinyl
releases over the years, as well as a handful of CDs. Most of them have been
excellent but I hate to say that this release — featuring a track apiece from The
DJ Producer and a Greek producer called Throttler — are my least favourite of the
crop.
The
DJ Producer / Throttler – Obituary / Validation
It's because I bought the test pressing, right? An 'official' version would have sounded much better.
KSHEEPV006, to use the vernacular, is the Killing Sheep
Records release in my collection that gets played the least. This is despite
the fact that it features the relatively very well known (among hardcore techno
and gabber circles) DJ Producer. Both provide hard, dark drum and bass tacks almost
verging on breakcore. They’re fast and heavy with plenty of sudden changes in
tempo and feel. However, I felt they come across as being somewhat excessive,
with too much noodling and self-indulgent programming. It seemed to be less
about making standout music. It’s hard, dark, intense and in your face — but
not memorable.
If
these tracks were on a compilation or randomly appeared on my playlist then I’d
be fine with that. I’d probably stop what I was doing to see who released this
track, and then I’d probably forget who produce the tracks and get back to what
I was fapping, sorry, I mean doing.
If
this style of music is your cup of tea then I salute your for it. But personally,
I don’t feel they are terribly strong tracks worthy of a release on vinyl
records, especially considering the strength of the rest of the rest of the Killing
Sheep Records discography. The name The DJ Producer is certainly an attractive
craw card and hopefully there are truer fans than myself (I own at most four or
so releases that feature DJ Producer material) who will appreciate it. However,
this is a release that just doesn’t get me excited.
But
as I said, if this is your cup of tea, then go for it. And while you’re at it,
keep supporting Killing Sheep Records,
even if they don’t seem be releasing
records any more.
The DJ Hidden track Times Like These rates as one of the best drum and bass tracks in my
collection. Or would it be fair to say it’s one of the best hardcore tracks?
Released in 2006 on
Australian dark drum and bass label Killing Sheep Records (catalogue number KSHEEPV004),
this record apparently represents, in the words of one commentator on its Discogs
page, “A piece of crossbreed history!”
Not that comments on
Discogs or YouTube or anywhere else for that matter tend to amount to much —
but it’s clearly a drum and bass track that happens to be highly regarded.
The term “crossbreed” refers
to the name given to the style of music pioneered by The Outside Agency, the
Dutch drum and bass artist duo comprised (when performing solo) by DJ Hidden
and Eye-D). Personally, I’m not a fan of hard-tech-three-core-nu-bass-plop-step
or any of the other myriad of names dreamed up to describe recently released
music. For the sake of simplicity, ‘crossbreed’ refers to electronic music that
merges hardcore techno with drum n’ bass. This drum and bass track by DJ Hidden
is definition of that style of electronic music.
DJ Hidden: Times Like These
For such a noisy and
in-your-face track, Times Like These has
a surprisingly ambient and quiet start. It starts with a few minutes of ‘light’
and slightly creepy ambience with some piano thrown in for good measure.
Before the fun starts it
throws in the following processed and down-tuned vocal sample: “If we are to
survive, a new balance must be found. In normal times, evil would be fought by
good. But in times like these, it should be fought by another kind of evil.”
That’s a line by none other than Dame Judi Dench from the sci-fi epic Chronicles of Riddick. She’s referring
to Vin Diesel doing what Vin Diesel does best: kicking an awful lot of ass to
the tune of a teeth-jarringly corny script and regular lack of good acting.
Actually, if you can bring yourself to see beyond the cringe-inducing dialogue
then you may find it’s actually an excellent space opera with a truly epic scope
and sense ofd adventure. This may derive from the fact that (no idea if there’s
any truth to the following story) Vin Diesel allegedly made the other members
of the cast play Dungeons and Dragons with him (not sure which edition) in
order to thoroughly get into the spirit of things. Plus, Necromongers make for pretty
awesome villains.
Dark drum and bass
So there are two things I
love about Times Like These. Firstly,
I trainspotted a sample from a geeky science fiction film in an otherwise nasty
and dark drum n bass track. Secondly, when I bought this record it was the
first time I’d ever heard drum n’ bass music incorporating distorted, hardcore
techno (gabber) beats. Not only had I never heard anything like it but when it
came out in 2006 it predated the time when every man and his dog was producing
and playing ‘bass music’ or dubstep or brostep or whatever it is the kids call
it these days.
It’s
an absolute ball-tearer of a track that merges intricate cut up breakbeats with
stomping hardcore kicks. It’s the sort of music that’s designed specifically to
be crazily jumped around to, preferably in a dark warehouse or basement next to
a criminally loud sound rig.
The
second track, Organic Dub, is by a
Hungarian drum and bass artist call Numek.
I’d call it a dark dub or nasty ambient, except that it happens to contain full-on
breakcore-like beats over its dark choral atmosphere. It melds this with
occasional screams and some excellent drum sequences.
Creepy atmosphere meets
breakcore in this track and while the beats component of the equation do strike
me as a little bit excessive and self-indulgent, it does have some superb
moments. It’s an interesting track at the very least and the mere fact that
it’s difficult to describe is to its credit.
Check out: DJ Hidden /
Numek – Times
Like These / Organic Dub on Killing Sheep Records.
Go
to the link to find out what it’s all about, legitimately buy both tracks, and
support record labels that put out
killer music.
A person is either
passionate about the music they love or somewhat eccentric (or preferably both)
if they argue that dark, heavy, underground and experimental music should be
played at whatever speed the listener enjoys hearing it at the most. That is,
assuming the listener has the technical capability to do this.For example, my 33rpm
vinyl copy of the Stratosfear
album by krautrock and electronic music pioneers Tangerine Dream always gets
played at 45rpm. At the extreme end of the extreme scale, the Slayer track Angelof Death slowed down by 800 per cent transforms this speed / thrash / death
metal classic into a terrifyingly slow descent into the bowels of the abyss.One could argue that an
awesome song remains awesome no matter what speed it gets played at. Or, you
could think of it as an early warning sign that the release being played is
rather ordinary. Such was the case, I found, with this mystery dark drum n bass
record that I acquired some years ago at a fair.
My copy of Stitches / Last Walk (bar05) by Psidream and Mechwarrior. You mean you couldn't tell from the Barcode Recordings cover art?
This 12-inch vinyl record
is 2004 release on the hard and dark drum and bass Barcode Recordings record label.
A promotional copy in a plain sleeve with no other artwork other than “Bar Code
promo” printed on one side, I established its identity on its catalogue number:
bar05.Now I don’t claim to know
the dark drum n bass scene inside out. However, I know what I like when it
comes to this music — and this just ain’t it.bar05 features two collaborative
drum and bass tracks by two drum and bass artists. The tracks are Stitches (side A) and Last Walk (side B) by two producers
calling themselves Psidream and Mechwarrior. Stitches
is a chilled out sort of track — there’s no other way to describe it — with a
vaguely dubbed and ’70s chillaxed kind of vibe to it. If you’re into that laid
back sound then this may be your cup of tea, but it’s not for me.Last
Walk has more depth and is somewhat greyer (I wouldn’t go so far as to say
darker) distorted bass lines to it. The broken beats are heavier and I will buy
you a cookie if you can trainspot the sampled dialogue that goes “And what is
the truth” or “And what is it”.Yet both in cases these
tracks seem go on for too long. They are 7:10 and 6:28 minutes long
respectively, and they seem to pretty much repeat the same damn thing again and
again. I found it lacking in imagination and much too repetitive, even by the
admittedly repetitive standards of this sort of electronic music.
Barcode Recordings
Barcode Recordings is a heavy drum
n bass record label that clearly enjoys enough respect and admiration to be
able remain in business. A quick glance at the names on the Barcode Recordings
roster goes a long way to explaining why. Evol Intent, Current Value,
Counterstrike and Raiden are just a few among many more.However, this release just
doesn’t seem to have much imagination or capture any magic.Call me harsh. Call me
ignorant. Call me whatever you like. Given how much it costs to press a vinyl record I am constantly amazed
at how generic the tracks like the ones on bar05 end up on expensive physical
media. I can fully see these tracks on a compilation, but the fact that they’re
on a vinyl record has me shaking my head.Having said that, I
strongly suspect that the rest of the Barcode Recordings catalogue is much
stronger when you consider the previously mentioned artists.
Who buys vinyl records
these days anyway? Not the people who bought this record I suspect.
