Post by mimusPost by mimusI just finally cracked under the strain and ordered Laether Strip/After
the Devastation, Covenant/Northern Light _and_ Sequencer, and
Informatik/Nymphomatik, all from Metropolis.
Got my culture-pak from Metropolis yesterday, popped _Sequencer_ in first,
and haven't been able to get it out of the player to listen to the
others yet . . . .
Great stuff, maybe a little light, but by no means synth-pop-- I'd put 'em
at or above Snog's level, say, with a cleaner sound.
And speaking of sounds, that metal sound in "Tabula Rasa" (perhaps the
best and definitely the most distinctive cut) is plain nasty.
The block I've been hypnotizing myself with goes "Liquid Sky", "Slow
Motion", "Stalker", "Tabula Rasa" and "Babel" (26:11) ("Liquid Sky" and
"Babel" are from the _Stalker_ EP, which is included in the Metropolis
release of _Sequencer_).
OK, the later Covenant, _Northern Light_(2002)(Metropolis) (the Metropolis
_Sequencer_ release is from '99) is actually simpler in some ways, more
like EBM-'n'-roll or even EBM-'n'-blues.
I take it there was a deliberate decision to write road-pieces, so to
speak, and stay as close to live-in-the-studio as possible.
The block "Winter Comes", "Bullet", "We Want Revolution", "Rising Sun" and
"Atlas" (25:57) is satisfying in a number of ways (I'm not sure that
"Scared" might not find its way in there after "Bullet", or that the final
two might not be better swapped).
One thing that makes me uneasy about Covenant is that Simonsson routinely
sings, I mean _cantabile_, which is dangerous for most EBM vocalists,
although I admit he gets away with it . . . .
But both these albums are very welcome to my collection, and Covenant will
definitely bear further exploration.
Informatik's _Nymphomatik_ (2002)(Metropolis) is exactly what an
Informatik fan would expect given the overall theme, making it a solid
release, with the block "Flesh Menagerie", "Physical Education", "Built
for Pleasure" and "A Matter of Time" (25:16) being very enjoyable (and the
"instrumental" "96 Degrees" would actually fit quite nicely after "Built
for Pleasure").
We now come to the ugly part.
Which is Laether Strip's _After the Devastation_(2006)(Alfa Matrix),
which is going to take a separate post after I pull myself together over
it (which is more than I would feel safe in assuming about Claus).
So, the score for this foray into cultural acquisitions runs like this:
Covenant, two shots, made both, 5 points (a 3 for _Sequencer_ and a long 2
for _Northern Light_, although audio review by the officials may change
that to a 3 later).
Informatik, one shot, a solid mid-range jumper, 2 points.
And Laether Strip, injured, retired and carted off in a basket, 2 points
(I let Covenant shoot his free throws for 'im).
Not bad at all.
--
Let there be throbbing.