Sordid reviews - 7/12/01.

VNV Nation - Genesis.0 (Dependent)
VNV is the band that defines whether you're with us or against us. Virtually anything by the lads is liable to get the new breed waving their arms and stretching their rubbers, while the old guards sit around in their unblemished make-up and moan into their pints. 'Genesis' will not only not make things any better, the blatant "largin' it in Ibiza" vibe just makes things worse. Basically, IMHO, fuck the begrudgers. It's getting to the stage where Goff clubs have no hope of pleasing everyone and we need our own clubs. Anyway, back to 'Genesis'. The single mix is a big progressive trance bastard with voice samples from some astronaut quoting bits of Genesis (the Bible chapter) and the usual droning verbosity of VNV vocals. The C92 mix is a meatier piece, some chunkier EBM vibes going on amidst the trance. And that's all the promo release gives ya, there are a few more mixes across the two single releases. VNV do what they do best, big dance music with an intelligent vibe and just enough roots still in electronica to keep it interesting.

Ultraviolence - superpower (Earache)
Johnny Violent, eh, the man who got Goths dancing, without whom there'd probably have never been goggle-wearing cyber-Goths to lead to the latest raver breed. OK, that might be overstating it a smidge, but 'Hardcore Motherfucker' did, and still does, play a massive part in the scene. However, off the dancefloor, I've never found an entire Ultraviolence CD to be completely satisfying. Too much gabba can be boring and spoils the intensity, while UV can often go too far in trying to add some lighter sounds. The first track here, 'Sex', is very much in the latter category, sounding horribly like Sporty Spice singing with the Bomfunk MCs, all breakbeats and sickly niceness. 'elektra' is a lot better; waves of gabba power ebb and flow, with some melodic, but edgy, vocals floating on top, a là 'Adultery'. 'superpower' is enjoyably cheesy; a hip-hop vocal backed with bits of jungle that speed up and down into gabba craziness.
'airbreak' is classic UV, snatches of classical music, chaotic beats and short, sharp samples of voice interspersed thru it. The balance is wrong again on 'speed & distance' - the vox and keys are too poppy and too cheesy for the gabba beats. 'race face' and the last track 'team UVR' are both based around the same vocal sample, virtually a slogan "team Ultraviolence racing, fucking fast" and playfully intense sounds. The former is largely just a gabba workout, while the latter samples the band's back-catalogue and creates a dancefloor winner, even if it does sound a bit naff off the 'floor. Before that are two somewhat faceless gabba workouts, 'the dark station' and 'diamonds, and the closest UV come to a ballad, 'separation', about which the less said, the better! The thing is, does anyone expect great albums from Ultraviolence or are we more than satisfied with a few tracks guaranteed to turn the dancefloor into a seething mass, I know I am.

Apoptygma Berzerk - APBL2000 (East West)
Apop got quite a few not very nice reviews of the shows on the "Welcome to Earth" tour, as the "band" failed to translate their very studio-based sounds into a live setting to the satisfaction of some of their fans. However, the tone of many of the reviews gave the impression that people expected APB to be what they used to be, an EBM band, which they patently are no longer. These same fans would probably be comatose at an Orbital gig! However, I wasn't at any of the gigs, so I shouldn't comment much more, so I'll turn my attention to the CD of the same tour. The things that drew criticism onstage, the pre-recorded/pre-programmed backing, the excessively practised and exact vocal performance, make this a much more enjoyable listen than its patchy and grungy '98 predecessor.
"APBL2000" is somewhere between a live album proper and a remix album, the tracks are identifiably close to the originals, with only some parts, vocals, extra guitars, keys, sounding more "live". The "Welcome to Earth" tracks, like 'Starsign', 'Kathy's Song' or their delicious reworking of Metallica's 'Fade to Black', are toughened and edgier, while older tracks like 'Stitch' or 'Bitch' are dancier and more polished than before. "APBL2000" marks a point in Apop's evolution where they tried to straddle the past and the future. It's likely to be the last time as Stephan Groth follows his own vision of music to wherever it takes him. It should be savoured as such and because it really is a cracking live album.

Psyche - The Hiding Place (Accession (Europe)/artoffact (N America))
There are some apologies that are fun to make. Apologising to a band you'd written off when it turns out they'd some great stuff left in them is one such. Messrs Huss and Szyszka, please allow me to apologise for prematurely consigning you to the scrap-heap of history while I revel in the eleven gloriously dancefloor friendly electro-dance wonders, with the tasty unique vocals, that put their UK contemporaries' rather cheesy recent foray into dance music (Depeche Mode, in case ya didn't know) very much into the shade. Darrin snarls, purrs and, of course, sings on top of an inspired selection of electronica sounds that are absolutely infectious. I thank you, Psyche, for proving me so wrong and treating me to such a cracking album.

Seabound - hooked (Dependent)
How does one review Seabound without mentioning their more famous labelmates (and probably more famous former labelmates)? It's almost instinctive to do so, but it's too easy and not completely justified as Seabound have something of a sound of their own. The answer niggles through the massively techno-based sounds of the Radical mix of 'hooked' and becomes a lot clearer as the original album version starts up. Excuse me if this seems ridiculously obscure, but the quite retro dancey electronica centred on a powerhouse vocal performance that culminates in a two-part harmony at the chorus is definitely reminiscent of Fini Tribe in the days when Chris Connelly, later of RevCo, Murder Inc and Damage Manual, had vocal duties. So much so that the patently not Scottish vocals seem, to my ears anyway, to have taken on a highland twang! The alt.vocal edit of the Radical Mix is less satisfactory, downplaying the vocals that are central to the quality of the other mixes. All in all, this is a slightly different slice of futurepop, this, and the scene's all the better for it.

The Azoic - forward... (nilaihah)
Be warned, if you were a fan of the Azoic in the past and are not a fan of the current wave of techno influenced stuff, then keep well away. The Azoic are not the same as before and for the rest of us, who don't expect EBM bands to sound the same forever (and are just as happy when they go dance) this is a joy. Kristy and Steve have jumped wholeheartedly and completely onto the futurepop bandwagon and in the process have set a new standard as to how it can sound. If you thought 'Progression (dirge)' on the Accession comp was all down to Assemblage 23, then you were very wrong. This is hard-edged dance music of the highest order, with Kristy's vocals providing a melodic lift to six of the seven tracks. The one track featuring Steve's vaguely Skinny Puppy-esque industrial growling, 'Evolution' is less successful, the vocals clashing with the more uplifting electronics. We're also treated to four remixes, including the afore-mentioned A23 mix, a more effective tribal reworking of 'Evolution' by Flesh Field, a rather strange mix of 'Progression' by Fiction8 featuring something that sounds like a spring, well, springing! Oneiroid Psychosis wrap things up with a step backwards - a fairly boring electro mix of 'Progression' that's not a patch on the original or the A23 version. But, that aside, this is high quality stuff and the female vocals, in particular, make it stand out in the scene.

Massiv in Mensch - Belastendes Material (artoffact)
Massiv in Mensch is a hardcore industrial-dance band that balances growling male vocals with light female singing - in other words, a German Flesh Field. OK, OK, maybe that's not completely fair, but it is a useful guide - if you like "Viral Extinction" you'll probably like this. It is, however, also very German, having as much in common with both Rammstein and E Nomine as the afore-mentioned FF, harsh and vaguely militaristic. In general, this is far too harsh for your average disco. This isn't really crossover stuff; it's more the kind of thing that'll get KMFDM pulling shapes on the dancefloor. That said, the tranced-up Kraftwerk vibe of the instrumental 'Verlust' would be perfectly acceptable in polite company, and the dancefloor-friendly 'Endorph - Fusion' is much more E Nomine than Rammstein. But, the chaotic onslaught of 'Endstellt' reaches Atari Teenage Riot level intensity. Interestingly, in the context of my initial comparison, is the Flesh Field remix of 'Offensiveshock', a big bastard of a tune that explodes what was originally a powerhouse into something more dancefloor destroying than friendly. The Noisex mix of 'In Zeiten Wie Diesen' is not quite as intense, but its spacey electro-dance power does come close. All in all, this is an enjoyable taste of the harder side of the scene, but really, at 14 tracks, it's a bit much to handle all at once.

the nine - dreamland (October)
A year ago, when the nine supported Inertia in Dublin, it was my view that they'd be better off becoming a Depeche Mode tribute band, as it all sounded the same, but at least people would already know the words. Thankfully, they seem to have put the time in in the studio to create their own sound. The Depeche Mode influence is still there, but its been tempered with a very skilful use of dance music elements, making the nine something of a Depeche Mode for the new millennium (as opposed to the tired old fucks Depeche Mode are in the new millennium!) This is melodic vocal-driven dark electro-pop of the highest order and it really should not be long before the nine join Covenant on a major label roster. Fuck, they even use a voccoder to the benefit of a song on 'breeze'! Expect great things from the nine, what would be good now would be a few 12" dance mixes and there'll be no stopping 'em.

Void Construct - Estramay Aleph (Cryonica)
Void Construct is another band from the harsher, more Coldwave-based, end of the spectrum. While a certain amount of dancefloor sensibility is evident, they are, at core, an indus band with the intensity and coarseness that entails. VC do make great use of voice samples, including snippets of horror and sci-fi films to optimum effect. These provide somewhat of a counterpoint to Scott Walker's distorted vocals, which do tend to sound a bit flat. Tracks aimed at the dancefloor, like 'Anodyne Impulse' or 'Silicon Etch 6-1-1' are far more enjoyable than the more vocal based tracks such as 'Construct', which are fairly mediocre. VC still have some way to go, though they do have potential. One of the most important things they must do is add a lot more variety to the vocals to match the variety on display in the music.

Implant - Unidentified Flying Frequencies (Flatline)
Implant are a revelation. Building on a recognisably electro foundation, Len and Geert add layers of trance, techno, house and more to create an astoundingly diverse and powerful selection of dancefloor classics. Implant vary these elements over the course of the six tracks to such a degree that the music is generally unclassifiable. 'Log on/log off', with its powerhouse beats and distorted vocal line, is EBM-based, but 'First contact' is very much in the old school house vein, while 'Don't like them noisy' is a breakbeat-filled piece of techno lunacy. 'Flash', a gloriously bleepy piece of driving pseudo-house is even better, showing, with apparent ease how it's still possible to be creative in dance music. 'Look@me' is an eclectic mix of noises initially laid over a slow and understated, though funky, beat, the kind of thing that wouldn't sound out of place on an Aphex Twin or Orb album. However, it heads off in a rather hardcore beat-driven techno sound in a late night drug-addled rave kind of way. It's not likely to be everyone's cup of tea, but it is a rather individualistic take on the genre.
Last up is a remix of 'First contact' that turns the track upside down, inside out and back to front! At times its trancey, then it reaches an all-but gabba level of speed, it's a big brash unpredictable piece of wonderment. Sprinkled between the songs, moderating the flow perfectly, are six 'Frequency' tracks with bits of noise and voice all mixed together. Also included is the somewhat less impressive collection 'Remixes of Hmputor', featuring mixes by some well know acts - Negative Format, Fiction 8 and Razed in Black, and some less well-known. Not that I've heard the original versions of the songs, but, compared to "UFF", these hard electro pieces are more heavy-handed and lack its inventiveness. All in all, though, it's just an added extra to a cracking album.