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Frontline Assembly* - Artificial Soldier - 28-Mar-07 05:48 AM
Front Line Assembly, over the years, had steadily been on one of the most remarkable musical progressions of any act in the industry. It began on Millennium, as a hard, guitar-driven metal/industrial amalgamation that would spawn many similar groups (especially Hanzel Und Gretyl), and dissolved all the way down through Implode, Epitaph, and the unheralded masterpiece Civilization into a kind of euphoric, lethargic ethereal-industrial mixture. After Civilization, FLA had tested the waters so thoroughly and authoritatively that all they had left to do was start over.

Thats what Artificial Soldier is. It is Front Line Assembly realizing that it has nothing left to do musically except fill its role and deliver one hell of a record. Its reminiscent of Metallicas journey in the 1980s from hard-line metal band, to progressive anthemic metal band, and back. Like that Black Album, every track on Artificial Soldier is an entity unto itself. Bill Leeb just has fun, making industrial the way he did all through the 80s, but with the technological fixation of Epitaph. The synths therefore dont run together in sound like they did during his earlier works, and Artificial Soldier stands up with the best of those pioneering works. Because it does not cover any new musical ground, like Civilization or Millennium did, it can hardly be considered a masterpiece, but it is one of FLAs strongest albums from start to finish; Artificial Soldier is purely and simply the latest in Bill Leebs long line of industrial monsters.

Dismantled - PostNuclear - 25-Dec-05 04:32 AM
Dismantled is a really good act. Gary Zon is an exceptional musician, and ordinarily his work would be worthy of twelve bucks any day. Just not this time.

The CD on the whole is thin. Theres percussion, theres a bassline, and theres Zon screaming through distortion about some angsty thing or another. There are no hooks, theres no ethereal synth, theres nothing to make any song stand out from the one before it. Even the percussion is weak, the snare-synth sounding more like a crack than a solid percussion hit.

The one good song is Armed And Ready, which DOES have the forementioned qualities. However, the rest of the album (Armed And Ready is the first track) is a severe letdown, like the long low after a short high. And even I wouldnt buy an album for just one song.

Pig - Pigmata - 25-Dec-05 04:30 AM
After a bit of controversy and a long wait, PIG (Or in this case, KMFDM minus two people) returns with Pigmata. It goes without saying that the project Raymond Watts created hasnt been in the forefront of his time in recent years, and it seems to be reflected on Pigmata. The majority of the songs sound like overprocessed (Or underprocessed, because of the poor mastering job) 90s alternative, and the standout songs, like Here To Stay, Situation, and Take, sound almost exactly like KMFDM. What distinguishes this CD in ANY way from KMFDM is merely the lack of Sascha Konietzkos growl.

That being said, the CD is not bad to listen to. Once the listener gets past just how bad the production is, and accepts how much like KMFDM the CD is, he realizes that some of the songs are pretty fuckin badass. Wattss penchant for song titles shows through again on songs like Suck Shit Spit and God Rod, the latter sounding like KMFDM at its mid-90s peak mixed with a bit of Nine Inch Nails, and yes, a hell of a lot of PIG (plus some extremely explicit Watts lyrics). Kundalini takes the listener on an electronic excursion; Steve Whites programming on Pigmata is fantastic.

As a PIG album goes, Pigmata is a bit disappointing. Raymond Watts has done better in the past, and he seems unable to shake off the chains of KMFDM (Which may be why he didnt appear on their latest album). But musically, its a pretty damn good CD. Some of the guitar parts run together, and the production is AWFUL, but still, if I had to start over, Id buy Pigmata again.

Dismantled - Breed To Death - 25-Dec-05 04:30 AM
Its an EP, what is there to say? Theyre never outstanding. This EP just happens to be satisfying enough to warrant a review.

This CD is everything PostNuclear wasnt. The songs are catchy yet still harbor a tad bit of raw emotion, there are plenty of hooks (The entire title track is one big catchy huggable hook), the percussion is solid and loud. Of the four songs that are introduced on the CD (Quite a lot for an EP), the only one I have trouble listening to is Straight Up, and thats just because its Paula Abdul. War Dream is too fun a song to put into words, and The Blind sounds like pure Dismantled; a bit of Wumpscut, a bit of Funker Vogt, and a bit of Haujobb.

The remixes are nothing special, but they never are. The "Easy To Swallow" remix of The Swarm should have been the original, which was far too messy. The Feed remix of Breed To Death is repetitive and bland. Wumpscut proves once again to have very little aptitude when it comes to making a good remix, this time on The Swarm. Daedal sucks. And the Psyclon Nine remix of Breed To Death is simply annoying. BUT THE HAUJOBB REMIX. Anything Haujobb touches turns to gold. They call it The Swarm, but the only hint of The Swarm that remains is the word "Enough" sampled endlessly. Haujobb might have well have taken this track, stripped it of the vocals, and released it themselves. But this CD is by Dismantled, so enough of Haujobb.

The title track is great. The other three new songs are satisfying. And the Haujobb remix is SO GOOD. Those are five pretty good reasons to buy Breed To Death.

Various - Metropolis 2003 - 15-Nov-05 12:27 PM
Back again is the Metropolis sampler at Hot Topic, and back again are its limitations. The same artists appear year after year (KMFDM is on this CD even though they didnt even have a studio album in 2003, honestly there is a such thing as a bit too much KMFDM), great artists though they are. The artist selection however is not as saddening as the song collection; for most artists, there are FAR better songs out there in 2003 to add to the sampler, the most obvious being Front 242- come on, Triple-X Girlfriend? And they didnt even get the title right...

The one exceptional song that I simply could not get enough of when I bought this sampler was Deliver Us From Evil, possibly the best Suicide Commando song Ive heard to date. The song is an exclusive track, which, really, you need more of on a sampler.

Other than that, Monochrome, Attak/Reload, and Pretty Toy, the selection is lackluster (Bunnydrums?), yet expected from the annual budget Metropolis sampler.

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