cd reviews
Peter Murphy “Alive Just For Love” Metropolis Records By Craig Harvey    Peter Murphy along with his band Bauhaus, helped start an entire subculture of dreary, makeup- wearing, black-garbed boys and girls, that to this day is still going strong. Countless bands have followed in their footsteps, but none will probably have the impact that Murphy and Co. did. However, even after the eventual demise of Bauhaus, Peter Murphy continued on to have a very successful solo career that has spanned sixteen years, with over seven albums. The countless goth's who adored him in his previous career, have continued to do so with his solo material as well.     "Alive Just For Love" is an incredible two CD set that showcases Murphy in top form. If you thought his voice was great in the studio, it is just as powerful and stunning live. The very first track, Cool Cool Breeze is Murphy alone, with no accompanying instruments. This says it all, as he effortlessly carries the song relying only on the strength of his voice. The next song, All NIght Long brings in the keyboards and guitar but no drums. As a matter of fact, there are no drums anywhere on this CD except on Gliding Like A Whale, and those are electronic. This is my only real problem with this CD; no percussion. You keep waiting for it to come in as the song tempo builds and it never does. It really is missed on songs like Cuts You Up, Subway, and Time Has Nothing To Do With It. It's like Peter Murphy unplugged. Well, sort of. The guitar is electric and there are synths, so why no drums? Beats me, but that would have made this CD perfect. Regardless, all your favorite songs are here, including Indigo Eyes, I'll Fall With Your Knife, and Marlene Dietrich's Favorite Poem along with the ones I mentioned previously. Disc two has only four tracks, and I only recognized one (it's a cover made famous by a certain hip shaking man from Memphis) Love Me Tender as well as Who Killed Mr Moonlight, All We Wanted Was Everything, and Hope. Still, for fans of Peter Murphy this is well worth having in one's collection. The songs are flawless, the sound is crystal, and if you can get past having no drums, this is one of the best live albums I have ever heard. Skinny Puppy “Back and Forth vol 5: Doomsday” Live Nettwerk Records by Alex Pagan Finally, the much anticipated, definitive live Skinny Puppy cd has arrived. No, this is not a new album, this is Nivek Ogre and cEvin kEy performing some of the greatest industrial music ever written, recorded live for your listening enjoyment. Doomsday is the fifth installment to the Skinny Puppy rarities series “Back and Forth”. The first four in the set featured many hard to find songs, remixes and specific live tracks that weren’t available anywhere else. Doomsday offers something different, a complete live show recorded in Dresden, Germany. Now if you are like me, an obsessed Skinny Puppy fan boy, you probably have the first live disc/video “Ain’t it Dead Yet”, which for its time was great. Well, if you liked that, Doomsday will blow you away. Back and Forth 5 is a greatest hits of sorts when it comes to the tracks selected for the live set. Doomsday is a collection of the better songs from albums spanning from “Remission” to the last full-length album on Nettwerk/Capitol Records featuring the late Dwayne R. Goettel “Last Rights”. This fourteen track cd is full of all the club classics such as Warlock, Testure, Love in Vein and Deep Down Trauma Hounds, not to mention a few less popular songs such as Convulsion and Harsh Stone White. The sound quality of the music is far better than its predecessor “Ain’t it Dead Yet”, as a matter of fact, it is better than most live discs you can get from any other artist. Some songs in particular sound better than the original studio version, namely the heart stopping rendition of First Aid. Nivek’s vocals are chilling, near studio perfect and amply backed by cEvin’s well-structured rhythms throughout the duration of the cd. As it goes with live recordings, some mistakes are bound to happen, but with Doomsday they are so subtle that only a person that has every note memorized (like me) will notice them. Doomsday is a great release for two reasons. One, it is something the fans can really get into and enjoy. Two, it provides those with little or no knowledge about Skinny Puppy with a unique tool for sampling some of their finest work. On a final note, I must admit that my opinions of this cd are biased. It is very difficult to be critical about something that you love. Clan Of Xymox “Notes From The Underground” Metropolis Records By Craig Harvey    The newest offering from long time electro/goth pioneers Clan Of Xymox, started out very promising. The very first track Innocent gave way to dark static beats, eerie synth lines and just the right mixture of guitar. This continued on through to the next song I Want You Now. Even vocalist/guitarist Ronny Moorings seemed to be a little less "Sister-esque" with his vocals this time around. However, at times the band still sounded like wannabe Sisters Of Mercy clones. Thankfully this was only on a few fleeting tracks. Most apparent was Liberty and Number One. Their last full length "Creatures" had a heavy "Sisters" vibe but still came off as a rather good CD. I am just tired of bands who can't seem to find their own voice, but Clan Of Xymox seem to be headed in the right direction.    The band does its share of slower material (Into Her Web, At Your Mercy, and Something Wrong) where a myriad of other influences ranging from The Cure to Dead Can Dance show their faces. I thought that the band was at it's best on harder tracks such as Anguish, The Same Dream, and the aforementioned Innocent. Another cool track was the short instrumental Mysterium. No percussion, no guitar, just skin crawling synth lines that sounded like they were flowing straight out of the dark, dank, catacombs. Creepy.    Overall this a pretty good release. It took a few times to get into it, but it really started to grow on me after a while. It definitely shows a progression in the bands sound, but still keeping within their gothic roots of their past releases. I would like to see them explore more avenues similar to Mysterium. It was so different from the rest of the CD, and I think that it shows what the band is truly capable of.  Dj Micro Tech-Mix-Live @ Avaland Boston By Craig Harvey Most live albums I can take or leave. There are a few however, that have great sound and production and those are the ones to keep your ears open for. And, since this is a Dj mix, you figure how difficult can it be to get a great sound right? After all, they are just spinning other people's music. Well, Dj Micro had only one shot at getting this 12 song CD perfect. This was a live club setting, and he was on the proverbial spot so to speak. He had to have the mix dead on, and boy does he ever. Again, many live albums are slightly on the weak side when it comes to sound, but not here. The production is top notch, even though it was all vinyl and some dub plates. Dj Micro takes a crowd of nearly two thousand people (with you included) on a powerhouse trance trip, full of great beats, and absolutely infectious dance floor grooves. His arsenal of artists included, Tenth Planet, Thrillseekers w/Sheryl Deane, Marc Aurel, Barthez, and my favorite trance artist of all time Paul Van Dyk. Also, he really brought the house down when he ended his set with a track of his own music entitled Fall Into Me. The screams of the enraptured crowd can be heard intermittingly throughout the CD, but never do they drown out any of the music.  Being a huge fan of trance, I really loved this album. The fact that this is a live CD really captures what trance is all about. The energy of this CD was such that I could almost visualize bodies packed tightly, sweating, moving, all caught up in the momentum of the music. Believe me, it's the next best thing to being there. Massiv In Mensch “Belastendes Material” Artofact Records By Craig Harvey This German Industrial trio combines harsh male vocals, blended with softer female vocals (similar to that of L'Ame Immortelle) and hard hitting industrial/ebm beats for a stunning debut release. Actually, I had bought the import version of this CD a short while back, thinking that the Artofact release would be a new CD. However, this is the domestic version with an additional bonus of two remixes by Flesh Field and Noisex. So, in actuality the domestic offers a few more tidbits than it's European counterpart.  As with many German industrial bands, all of the lyrics are in German. Also, all the band members contribute when it comes to singing, which I found interesting. At times the male vocals (provided by Daniel Logemann and Mirco Osterthun) reminded me of Rammstein, especially on Ans Kreuz Genagelt and Endorph - Fusion. Sarah Folkens voice on the other hand was almost delicate and petite in comparison. This drastic contrast between vocal styles really does work exceptionally well. Even the music itself takes several twists. While most of the CD is very aggressive industrial, the band definitely has a soft side. You can hear this on Hans Gruber (love that title) and the instrumentals Verlust and Verloren. There is even some guitar thrown in for good measure on a few tracks as well. Massiv In Mensch show a talent for delving into different areas of electronic music, and melding it into their own style. For those of you that may be thinking that they are a L'Ame Immortelle imitation, guess again. While they are both electronic and danceable, the only other thing these two bands really have in common, is the male/female vocals and European background. Massiv In Mensch have definitely given us a solid first album, and I feel that the band has only scratched the surface. If you do decide to purchase this CD, (which you should do anyway) get the domestic version. It has the two additional remixes and is probably a little less expensive. Netz Werk01 Artofact Records By Craig Harvey What would you get if you crossed Kraftwerk with Covenant? Probably Netz. Or something close anyway. Minimalism is the name of the game when it comes to Netz's music. They don't rely on multi-layered bombastic keyboard tracks (which there is nothing wrong with) instead, just a good beat and a few catchy synth lines do all the talking. Oh, and of course great vocals. (Mostly in German, a few in English) At first this CD took a few listens to get into, I guess on my part because it seemed like it was missing something. However, after listening more closely, I realized that this was what really made their sound unique. Just the bare essentials, nothing more, nothing less. With so many electro/ebm/industrial bands flooding the market right now, (many sounding very similar to each other) Netz is like a breath of fresh air. The very first track Systemstatus started out as nothing more than bleeps. The bleeps became more frequent and eventually along with a few keyboards and beats help make up the structure of the song. There are a lot bleeps and other cool sounds on this album, and a lot of great samples injected into the songs as well. One of the coolest songs is Dune. As you may have figured out, it is about my favorite Freman Warrior Paul Atreides and his battle to free Arrakis. Its a nice medium pace song with lots of samples from David Lynch's film. They even team up with In Strict Confidence to cover their hit Industrial Love. Could you ask for more??!! There are a total of fifteen tracks, so I can't go through them all, but some of my other favorites were: Electrosmog, Puppen, Dynamik (Cybercut) and Datenautobahn. With Datenautobahn you can really here the Kraftwerk influence, and I suspect this is their "tribute" song of sorts. Even the title is suggestive of that. Remember Kraftwerk's hit Autobahn? I would recommend this CD highly for it's originality, great compositions, and well... just go out and buy the damn thing and listen for yourself. Netz is the next generation in electro. Just you wait and see. Psyche “Sanctuary” EP Artofact Records By Craig Harvey    Wow! This is one fantastic EP! Psyche gives you two new songs, with four additional remixes of those, and one song from last year's release (“Misguided Angels”) remixed as well. And, when you put this in your player, you will see that it registers ten songs instead of the seven that are listed. Yep, there are three hidden tracks as well. The new songs Sanctuary and Unbreakable are excellent dark ebm/synth-pop, with catchy hooks and heart-felt vocals. But it gets better. If the original versions were not good enough, wait till you hear the remixes! Negative Format is up first, infusing a hypnotic trance sound to Sanctuary which is just amazing. The next track, "Misguided Angels" is the song from their last album which is redone by Headscan. I have never heard the original, but this version has a powerhouse techno sound, that should give everyone on the dance floor a major workout.    Sanctuary is again the song of choice for Implant and Icon Of Coil. Implant also gives the song a trance injection, but the song has only snippets of vocals instead of the entire song. Icon Of Coil adds a cool sample from the movie "Logan's Run" at the beginning. (If you remember, in the film the runners were searching for "Sanctuary") Very fitting indeed. Icon Of Coil's sound is immediately recognizable with it's huge beats and great groove that is always in the pocket. Massiv In Mensch tackle Unbreakable which I expected to be a lot harsher, (considering that Massiv In Mensch is from the harder industrial school) but that was not the case. It was a good mix, but I think the band could have put more of their sound into the song.     The three hidden tracks are all versions of Sanctuary by artists unfamiliar to me. The "Elektrohandel Mix" again inserted several "Logan's Run" samples throughout, and had a an almost ambient/chill-out feel to the song. Dj Coon's take also included "Logan's Run" samples. (I guess everyone jumped on that particular bandwagon) However his version and The "Akanoid Vs. Clark Nova Mix" both had a great house feel, that would meld perfectly into a good Dj mix.  This is a must have for fans of good ebm/electro. Not only are the original songs great, but the remixes are absolutely superb! Also, the bands latest full length offering "The Hiding Place" (only available by import at the moment) will have it's North American debut sometime in October. So watch for it! Mentallo + The Fixer “Vengeance is mine” Metropolis records 2001 by Alex Pagan    Harsh…dark…distorted…and just a little bit demented is the best way to describe Mentallo + the Fixer’s latest Metropolis release. The members, Gary and Dwayne Dassing have been in the industrial music scene for quite some time, but this album proves to be the duos best effort to date. While some artists tend to change direction half way into their careers, Mentallo stuck to its guns. Even though the bands music has always consisted of a pulsating electro industrial sound, it has never really been dance floor oriented. Throughout the years, Gary and Dwayne have always had the same style when it comes to writing music, using a trademark formula of varying tempos, repetitive rhythms and very distorted lyrics. Another trend of Mentallo’s music is the length of the songs, which vary anywhere from six up to ten minutes of the same before mentioned repetitive rhythms. I have always considered Mentallo + The Fixer to be industrial noise core home entertainment, as opposed to club music.    “Vengeance is mine” can be compared to the bands earlier works, but it has a uniqueness that offers a great deal to a listener with an ear for electronic music. For example, this album is very complex with its overpowering synthetic sounds, disturbing samples and eerie vocal content. Track one sets the pace for the album with a particularly dark song titled Palestine. The mood of the following tracks does not stray far from its original course. Song three, titled Death On Delicate Wings brings new meaning to the line “baby I want you “ with its evil chimes ringing behind distorted lyrics. Throughout the recordings the band shows their progression in song writing, utilizing the structures of modern electronica, drum & bass, jungle and sometimes just pure noise. As usual the keyboard work tends to be a bit repetitive, but this is Mentallo + the Fixer. This album does have some dance floor appeal, but it would probably only appeal to the fans. You might want to check out the earlier releases before picking this one up, just so you can fully appreciate it for what it is. My life with the THRILL KILL KULT “The Reincarnation of Luna” Sleazebox records 2001 by Alex Pagan    The THRILL KILL KULT, one of the most pioneering industrial acts of the late 80’s and early 90’s has unleashed their satanic styles to world yet again. After various label, musical and member changes, TKK has kept its message clear. The devil can be sexy. If you are familiar with “Wax Tacks Records”, the Chicago based industrial label, then you are more than likely familiar with The Thrill Kill Kult. The bands attitude is an evil yet seductive one. The music they create has always followed suit. One can say that the devil was the bands main influence, but you could also say it was sex, drugs and techno. TKK has kept up with the many changes in music over the last decade. With six full length releases, a slew of singles, remixes and e.p.’s and a couple of soundtrack spots including the cult classic “Cool World” behind them, TKK has jumped into the next millennium with a fresh new sound.    I must say this new album “The Reincarnation of Luna” is much better than the last two TKK releases. Two L.P.’s ago the band did a 360 and put out a sort of disco death album which got a very poor response. The following record wasn’t much better with the bands attempt to rehash the styles of their earlier works which also didn’t go over very well. When I first listened to this cd I didn’t know what to expect. Will it be more disco? Will it be more gothic? In truth it’s neither. While it does have some similarities to the TKK release “Thirteen Above the Night” due to the techno feel, I have to say it’s very original. There are elements of many musical styles incorporated in each and every song including industrial, techno, goth and even a little bit of hip hop in the beat structure. As for the theme of the music, well that hasn’t changed much. Sex, drugs and the devil are still the driving force behind the Thrill Kill Kult. Is it a worthwhile buy? Its hard for me to say. I will say this though, “The Reincarnation of Luna” is a twelve-song cd with a sexy, pill crazed attitude and a decent attempt at keeping up with the industrial scene. Check out the Thrill Kill Kult bio and interview:  non-flash []  flash .
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