HYPE

 

RELEASES

 

KreuzDammer - 'Shot Down In Flames'

 

"These four gifts of tightly woven metal industrial show a promise which may well come to impressive fruition. KreuzDammer show a solidly muscled metal base wadded to tight industrial engineering with vocals which have strength but not arrogance" - 7/10 Rock Sound

"Imagine Rammstein, Ministry and KMFDM getting together for a nice little jam between friends, and you're not far off the KreuzDammer sound. Dangerously good!" - Virus Magazine

"... A real stomping frenzy of heavy guitars mixed with electronic noise and aggressive vocals. The carnage-filled choruses are infectious and leave you wanting to go tear it up on the dance-floor." - NoizeMarket

 

VTG - 'So Beautiful People Look Away'

 

"Far too many pretenders to Nine Inch Nails sound have been hoisted upon us over the years, but have any really lived up to the billing? Not in my books. For all the talk, they never walk the walk, and not one has come close to that precocious blend of melodious psycho-sexual self-flagellation. Until perhaps now. Larry Stone’s debut album ‘so beautiful people look away’ is a glorious journey into musical fusion from a frighteningly talented musician, clearly in love with the whole spectrum of alternative music from hip-hop to industrial rock, and clearly completely at home combining elements from everywhere. Schizophrenic, contradictory and full of clever ploys, VTG’s sound is at heart industrial downbeat, but understatement is reconfigured as outcry as trip-hop and funk beats are carved up with heavy sound textures and rock guitar, all crooned over by voice on the edge of breaking apart. Serenity is embraced and then brutally punctured, regret turns to anger, and then anger collapses into loss. Have you ever looked into eyes and seen that behind hope, sadness confusion and fear, there lies a profound frailty? Then maybe this is an album for you…" - 9/10 Rock Sound

"Kind of a mixed bag this one. Imagine what it would sound like if Trent Reznor, Tricky and Portishead had made an album together – well, this is it. The male vocals are VERY Trent Reznor on most of the tracks, and sometimes the way the tracks are constructed remind you of early NIN. But, I must stress that isn’t a NIN rip off – VTG have an album here that is quite capable of standing on it’s own two feet… once you have got your head around the sound concept on offer here.
I guess this is not an album that is easy to get into. For the uninitiated, it swings about all over the place, like a drunk staggering around in a crowded club, and then finally coming to rest on a comfy sofa somewhere while the dance floor fills up and people move along with the beat. The electronic elements of the album are rich, and well constructed. Almost having a life of their own, they draw the listener in. This is highly evident on the fifth track of the album, ‘Softly’. Highly listenable, even with it’s Cure-esque opening baseline. The opening track, ‘Drunk’ instantly reminds you of NIN, such is the effect of the intoxicating male vocals that are laid back in a dub-heavy beat, washed over by electronic guitars. Much more original than most of the cloned rubbish we’re inundated with today, I can tell you. ‘It’s not over’ is a trip-hop guitar heavy number that slumbers and then bounces its way along, dragging the listener along with it. Nice. ‘After it all’ is a quiet track, and almost gets lost in amongst the rest of the album. This is quite mellow, and a good track to kick back and chill out to. ‘No Greater Love’ has a haunting melody, which is soon joined by an upbeat electronic rhythm. Almost drum ‘n bass like in places, this is actually quite enjoyable, and its while listening to this it occurred to me why this is such a good album – IT’S VARIED! It doesn’t stand still long enough to get dull. Constantly changing and evolving, it’s like a chameleon running across a rainbow – constantly changing its colour.
‘Underwater Butterfly’ carries on the drum and bass theme, and with its accompanying keyboard melody, sort of reminded me of the kind of track you would find on a Sonic The Hedgehog/Mario World game. This isn’t meant as an insult, it’s meant to help describe the lightness of the melody. You won’t get bogged down listening to this at all. ‘Loudly’ is a more intense track, pounding distorted beats ride alongside (and sometimes over) the husky vocals. These same vocals I find are really used as an accompanying instrument on this track, rather than a means to their own end. It’s all very clever. The rest of the album carries on in this vein, with the ‘last’ track, ‘Letting go’, a purely ambient piece. So laid back it’ll relax you into sleep with ease.
The ultimate last track, and not one listed on the inlay, is ‘U Need This like A Blow To The Head’ sounds like some sort of jazz guitar parody – too weird to talk about here, but it does go to show the range of talent on offer here from VTG. This is a diverse and original act, not afraid to experiment. Oh, and to top it all, the sound quality and mastering is top notch. Very good!
While not to everyone’s taste, this gets full marks for being so damn original and daring to fly in the face of the ‘norm’. Keep it up! 4/4" - Hard Wired Webzine

 

haloblack - 'throb.'

 

"With the imminent return of NIN and Skinny Puppy, 2004 looks set to be an exciting year for industrial. Add to that the new release from bryan black, AKA haloblack, who has worked in the past with Prince, Tricky and Pig, as well as releasing two fine records of his own in the mid-‘90s.Like ‘The Fragile’, ‘throb.' is no instant fix. What it does offer though is a unique, hallucinatory journey to the end of the night in the company of zoned out vocals, fractured beats and hardened, twisted industrial/trip-hop grooves." - 4/5 Kerrang!

"Six years in the making, 'throb.' sees haloblack's bryan black nudging 'industrial music' into the 21st century, building on a base that owes much to Meat Beat Manifesto, KMFDM, Nitzer Ebb et al but taking onboard recent innovators such as Aphex Twin, Autechre and Tricky. Breathes fresh life into a moribund genre." - Metal Hammer

Music is the distension of sound into silence, the subversion of space by the substance of beat and structure, and as one of those bands who understand that the space between a sound is almost as important as the sound itself, haloblack bring to their old school electronics a thoroughly modern appreciation of the importance of understatement in ramming home effect. This is industrial music meets downbeat, but, thankfully, 'throb.' is closer to psychotic musical dramas of Skinny puppy, Nine Inch Nails and Pig than any of the happy-go-lucky faux-EBM and neo-noise that has saturated the scene for the last six years. Opening song 'why?' sells 'throb.' short somewhat - it's in the unsettled discordant clanging guitars of 'feel' that haloblack realise their full effect, and they run with it until 'love mechante' with no loss of momentum. It falls flat on its face somewhat with the spurious 'permance' and 'so volatile', and closing song 'drugbeat' is a little too obvious, but between Bryan Black journey's through feverish rhythms from bio-mechanical pulse on 'punch the deck' to narcotic haze on 'junky', direction provided by a metronome found at the point of a syringe. If you've wondered what Ministry might sound like in dub, haloblack have
just provided the template." - 8/10 Rock Sound.

"Ah, at last - some grit in the gears, some ghosts in the wires. Just when we all thought the electronic/industrial area of music had dwindled down to smoothly produced dancefloor blandness, here comes haloblack with an album of glitches, hitches, off-kilter ideas, loping beats and weird noises. Throb is an excursion into left-field electro-organic experimentation. Sometimes it’s puzzling, sometimes it’s uplifting, occasionally it’s oddly funky - and sometimes it just sounds like your hi-fi’s gone wrong. What more could you want? The vocals, such as they are, predominantly arrive courtesy of bryan black (he who is haloblack). He whispers disconnected snatches of lyric over (and sometimes under) the clicks and glitches and odd sounds which make up haloblack’s neo-musical vocabulary, while Arianne Schreiber lends her bluesey croon to several of the songs. The effect is a weird collision between the cold, hard textures of hi-tech, and warmer, natural human sounds. Sometimes, slabs of guitar crash down; at other times, the music is driven along by low-slung, funky basslines. It all hangs together with an effortless spooky coolness, and it’s always recognisably haloblack - but you’re never quite sure what they’re going to do next. Here are some examples. ‘Why?’ is a grab-bag of crackling wires and unexpected effects over a stop-start beat. ‘feel’ sounds like the Human League, circa 1978, ripped apart and soldered together without reference to the instruction book. ‘junky’ is a festering slice of mutant swamp-blues, with touches of subtle guitar, and Arianne Schreiber dragging the words out in a world-weary wail. ‘punch the deck’ has a low-slung bassline and sudden interruptions of metal-riffs, the kind of racket that probably soundtracks Jaz Coleman’s worst nightmares, while ‘love mechante’ sounds like what would happen if you drowned Giorgio Moroder in electric soup. ‘drugbeat’ is probably the nearest thing to a conventional rock song here - and even then, it doesn’t get too near. It’s a bluesey low-rider, all gritty bass and an ever-building climax - ‘drugbeat...drugbeat...drugbeat’ - and I suppose if any of the music here is ever likely to touch base with all those industrial fans who think that wearing a NIN baseball cap is kinda rad, this’ll be the one. But, in general, ‘throb.’ exists in its own time and space. It doesn’t trouble itself with what’s cool on the scene right now - in fact, I doubt very much if bryan black even knows there’s an industrial scene. He’s definitely out on his own limb here, and his music is all the better for it. I’m sure that most of today’s clue-free cyberkidz will be utterly baffled by this album. There is absolutely nothing here to which you could wave a glowstick. Me, I think it’s a mordant, minimalist masterpiece." - Starvox

"Spending several years in the studio is generally not a good thing. haloblack’s third album ‘throb.’ has been four years in the making, postponed time and time again, which felt more than a little worrying. But the album proves to have been well worth the wait. It does seem like it may have shed skin a couple of times though, at least considering that bryan black talked enthusiastically about bringing in a trip hop sound when I met him in London in 2000. There’s not much trip hop to be heard on the final album, although it at least shares an atmosphere of sensual darkness with Tricky’s landmark debut “Maxinquaye”. If there indeed was any indecisiveness about the sound, it doesn’t show. ‘throb.’ is varied, but very coherent. It’s a big leap forward from the old Haloblack sound – darker, slower, murkier, but also even more in a realm entirely its own. ‘throb.’ is actually strikingly inventive in places. The gritty electronics, fractured beats and rattling funk meet to create a pulsating, spiky organism that spits static, hiss and tales of alienation and depraved behaviour. Darkness, drugs and decadence prevail. So much so that if it would have been done with less skill and lyrical imagination, it would have gotten lost in a swamp of introspective nonsense. But not so. ‘junky’, for instance, manages to intertwine sex and junk (to speak with William Burroughs’s words), and make the marriage sound extremely silky and sexualized. Not least due to Arianne Schreiber, whose voice, like in a couple of other songs, complements bryan black’s whisper to great effect. Not everything is slow though. ‘feel’ is a perverted dance track of sorts, the lyric’s self loathing almost obscured by noisy nightmarish funk and razorsharp Fischerspooner-esque basslines that threatens to cut the song in two twitching halves. In “punch the deck” Raymond Watts snarls out the lyric of ennui and depression over a great, chunky electric bass, massive metal guitars and messy electronics. ‘love méchante’ is on the other hand one of the few flaws on ‘throb.’, mainly ruined by its overly simple electroclash foundation. Otherwise ‘throb.’ is consistently good in its own pleasantly unpleasant way. These dark corners of the mind are not too bad places to visit when you’re in the company of haloblack. 8/10" - Release Webzine

"Had to check that my machine wasn't fucked when I first listened to this - such is the distortion and noise on the first track! This is the kind of thing that you get if you give a nice clean synth band to a twisted Trent type geezer and say "now make that sound nice matey." Powerful and intense with a sleazy trash feel dragged across the frequently disjointed beats, with tortured male vocals and some occasional sultry trip-hop feel femme vox. Whilst there are obvious reference points to NIN, this album demands to be listened to regardless of one's own feelings about Trent as there are some amazing tracks and tricks to be enjoyed, aand the whole album truly does defy classification. Definitely a band for people to watch out for." - Kaleidoscope

"haloblack offer the best Coffee and Cigarettes album since Tricky’s "Maxinquaye" for thinking cyber-industrialists everywhere. throb has so much to offer, from the amazing sleaze of 'feel' - an electroclash gem. Simple, yet raunchy beautiful percussion sprawled throughout a jagged synth melody. 'vapour' on the other hand has a chunky base line and stabbing electronics. The husky vocals of bryan black take lead while the hazy vocals of Arianne Schreiber fills in between with her silky presence. She brings calm to a cracking track that could get out of hand at anytime! 'junky' - Smooth; a beautiful blend of black's vocals and Arianne. Laid back trip hop with a twisted recipe from bryan black's own cook book. ‘out there' - same as 'Junky', but has an upbeat Portishead feel to it, the vocals have been put through effects and there is a gorgeous swaying melody filtering through the lazy beats, this is heaven! Next up is 'punch the deck'. For a start, a wicked title and the most talented Raymond Watts of KMFDM and PIG takes lead vocals, a chilled yet funky number that has spitfire guitar riffs ripping apart the ambience. The album finishes on the filthy 'drugbeat' - slowbeat percussion building up to a wall of guitar riffs and the vocal double team black and Arianne top off this sleazy gem. haloblack really have a knack of making damn good chilled out dirty songs! Recommended! 3/4" - Hard Wired Webzine

"It's a bit hard for me to talk about 'throb.' by haloblack without using the word "minimalist". So there you go: minimalist. Oh, and "electro". Everything comes through a barrage of lo-fi distortion that lends the album a very raw, warped and bleak sound. Guest vocals are provided on the track 'Punch the Deck' by Raymond Watts of KMFDM and PIG-fame, while Arianne Schreiber provides sultry, sleazy-type vocals for 'junky'. 'throb.' is perhaps an apt name for this work, as the experience of listening to it evokes what it might be like to spend a day on drugs in a small room, with only your own distorted stream of consciousness for company - or perhaps listening to just the throb of your own blood in your veins. The lyrics have a nice, cut-up sort of quality and they are delivered by voices that almost seem to melt like honey over the jagged electronica and the end result is pleasing to the ear in a distinctly *wrong* sort of way!" - Vision Thing Webzine

"A great, relaxing, fresh and intelligent album" - Side-Line

 

Bent U.S.A. - 'As You Like'

 

"What a real shit kicking stomper of a debut this is. Kryptonite guitars in a head on collision with the seediest Superman on the planet. Perry Farrell meets Lux Interior for a heads down, no nonsense arsequake. 'Parody' was reviewed in PFM 1 but it's so good we can reiterate the point here. GO AND BUY THIS!! 'Rape Team Machine' surely influenced by the Nicholas Cage movie 8mm is a quite terrifying, but laudable, tirade against the scum that rape. I t's a cracking track and in common with all the Bent U.S.A. material is fantastically produced and mixed. The guitars and vocals in particular leap out of the speakers and with this band it's very disconcerting. 'Daddy' is another song that deals with "tricky" subjects and the way Paul emotes the songs gives a real sense of outrage and exorcism of personal demons coming across. The band have a sort of grainy technoir filmic quality to their material and the samples, all well chosen, add to rather than detract from this. 'It's Over Man' is another great song and the quality of the material here is kept at 10 throughout the album. A more dancey feel introduces the track 'Separation' and the vocals on this are really quim quivering good. "Why did you leave me?" asks a female voice before the chorus is rammed into you with such insistent force that you will find yourself singing it for days. Johnny Rotten makes an appearance with his famous "Ah ha ha! Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" quote, and the answer here is a definite no. 'Come Down Day' is another Bent classic that you'll be singing as you go about your daily work, be you postman or serial killer. The rest of this mini album is made up of remixes which do what remixes do, taking up the space where more songs would have been welcome. All in all a great effort from a great band. 5/5" Pity For Monsters Zine

"'Parody' - is a gorgeous mixture of bouncing dance beats and sleazy caustic guitar riffs. A full on fistfight. Somewhere between EMF and Ministry. A very very good track that gets this album off on a good foot; up beat and full of energy! 'Rape Team Machine' - like 'Parody' has its own pulsating beats with added samples and guitar riffs that even Rob Zombie would take a bow to. Bent U.S.A really has these tracks finely tuned and tight, they really are Romper Stompers and even their track (It's Over Man) has the laid back similarities of The Young Gods. A blistering mixture of guitar riffs and mind blowing electronic hypnotism! 'Overman - Terminated! (Residual Evil Remix by Needleye)' - an overall electronic and bombastic guitar driven onslaught. Rough as a badger's arse (but cool) and even comes across similar to the experimentation of 'Psychic T.V.' 'Love Fades, Pain Lasts (Boys Don't Cry Remix)' - is a great trance-like track, classic beats with a beautiful melody twisting and turning throughout this track, that puts any hard floor material in the shadows. Sorry to pigeonhole you guys, but a fucking peach of an album! Raw energy power; delivered, signed and sealed! If you like White Zombie, KMFDM, Ministry and hard floor trance, add Bent U.S.A to that list, they have the strength and diversity of Bill Leeb and Rhys Fullber, Industrial metal to tantric trance. Take a bow guys - fucking genius! 4/4" - Hard Wired Webzine

"It’s refreshing to hear bands take a jab at the industrial genre without tiredly ripping off NIN, and London quartet Bent U.S.A., who are apparently dogged by a reputation for trashing venues and going apeshit onstage, sound nothing like Mr Self Destruct and co. Overtly political, confrontational and often just plain evil, this debut’s credible marriage of pounding beats, gnarled riffs and anger-fuelled, but often melodic vocals, call to mind Johnny Rotten’s post-Sex Pistols outfit PiL, and a gruffer EMF, making Bent U.S.A. worthy contenders for nastiest industrial band currently operating out of the UK." - 3/5 Kerrang!

"With more than a nod between Nine Inch Nails, Sulpher, Sheep On Drugs, Utah Saints and The Prodigy, Bent USA push out some slick industrial rock. Nothing too adventurous but fully competent none the less. Yeah, it's got the driving beat, forceful guitars, the all important distorto vocal effect, electro breakdowns and syth squidges and sweeps but ultimately it's not a million miles away from the bands that influence them. Take track four, 'It's Over, Man' for example, it has the bass line from The Young Gods' 'Skin Flower' running through it, nothing like showing your influences so blatantly. That's not to say this is a bad album, far from it; it's very well produced, the songs are well written dance floor fillers that will have cybergoths the length and breadth of the country bopping, and that is essentially what this is aiming at. Good time friday nights out where you can dress up and forget your shit job for a few hours.7/10" - Terrorizer

 

V/A - 'Defcon Two - Collateral Damage'

 

"Half of Armalyte Industries is run by our very own gileZ Moorhouse, but we know not nepotism here, so it's fortunate that Defcon 2 doesn't need favours to recommend it. Armalyte deal in anger management, and their version of therapy involves pairing extremely angry people with instruments and seeing what comes out. While it has some strange gothic interludes, some of the results on this budget price compilation aren't half bad. Inspired by the glory days of WaxTrax, they've unearthed some real musical gems in Hellstomper's savage 'Murderous' and Je$us Loves Amerika's super-cool manipulations of melody on 'Negative13'. Industrial can still be fierce and menacing in its darkness and this is a healthy and affordable reminder." Rock Sound

"Woah. Just in from the sexy Gilez at Armalyte, the long awaited and overdue 'Defcon 2 - Collateral Damage,' launched at the Underworld recently. Opening track Paradigm Shift's 'Defence Condition' uses those annoying repetitive samples that do nothing, and finally go nowhere. But! Bent (USA) Woooooooah red hot napalm guitars and I'm straight over on my back shaking my huge swollen testicles. This is more like it, I wanna go up the park and kill squirrels. Even the Marilyn Manson type outro does nothing to ruin this. Whoresome! Hydra I did a gig with at gossips, and they are gentlemen. This really reminds me of Meat Beat Manifesto, in my kennel that's high praise indeed. 'Prey.' Yeah I feel a bit peckish and the speed of the drums on this is getting my pulse racing. Excellent! Then these cunts come along and spoil it. Hellstomper's 'Murderous' is awful, and Industrial by numbers. If your gonna make a tuneless shitty racket at least make an original tunless shitty racket. Twats! The much vaunted Slick Idiot are up next with a charming ditty called 'Make Me Believe.' Fuck yeah! I'm back and raring to go out hub cap stealing. This is ace! Listen up! Loads of you do the "I'm so fucking scary,but my mum does my washing vocals", but 9 times out of 10 it gets lost. This is so well produced and sounds so good, Listen amd learn. The female vox remind me of Curve which is another ball lickingly good thing about this effort, as are the tempo changes. Pace! I'm frothing at the mouth, and I've had my Parvovirus booster jabs! Track Six by Lungworm is a bit like killing a cat. Unchallenging! 'Defcon One' produced one act of true genius (with the demi-god Rob Holliday) in the form of Sulpher. This album's Leonardo moment comes in the shape of Jules Seifert and his band, The Sepia. 'Stutter', taken from the bands soon to come album 'Splintered' on Wire, is the groups defining moment live. A peroxide punch from the blonde bombsite of tongue-tied adolescent angst. This is the track I wish I had had as a teenager! Make this band huge. I want to live in a world where anyone who even looked at them the wrong way will suffer repeated punishment beatings. Fuck the self aggrandising scum on magazines like the useless Meltdown or anyone else who doubted this band. At Defcon 2's launch at the Underworld the band entered a new era of live confidence. Prometheus is at last unbound (but get rid of those fucking synth drums) and when Jules stood centre stage the monster came alive. Breathtakingly excellent. Id buy this if I wasnt a dog. From the Dogs bollocks to. Well, Bollocks. Greenhaus? Shitehouse more like. Take one rich promoter, put his band on every bill in the known universe and fame and fortune beckons. Ooops! forgot to add any discernable talent and one, go on check, one original idea. If I was at half mast like this mob I'd kill myself. Shit on a stick this and the albums "Bunch Of Cunts" Well done. Joel! Thank god. Action Directe and I can piss up the fridge to this all day long. Pity For Monsters favourite "YobGoths" Now seeking a new guitarist after comedy Spinal Tap break-up. 'The Internationale' is a face stompingly wonderful blast of peoples revolutionary, fuck you rama lama BANG!POW. Tekno prisoners boys cos some guitarists are more equal than others. Jesus Loves America but I fucking hate this Piss Off! and take Haloblack with you. The former all false stops and swearing, both of which I hate (cunts!) The latter still yet to crawl out from their pit of influeces. Listen you're not NIN and never will be ok! Listen to Skinflick (not on here, why?) cos they will piss all over your face wankers. Track 12 is a filler track. Lucky 13 and I'm waving my paws about and wearing a luminous collar. It's Lost Highway and it's music for Dave the Raving Rottweilers holiday snaps. What do you think a track called 'Scandinavia' would sound like? That's right, land of the midnight. Cunts. On the final leg now. I must say I've enjoyed eating this Poodle and listening to this largely fine CD. Ok! Audio Warfare have 'One Drug' so lets hope its powerful enough to kill them. I had to eat all my travel sickness pills during this and I still feel nauseous. A girl I used to know (now married to a famous Goth Drummer) used to be named after this next lot, by her then boyfriend. I always found her charming funny and very sexy. The polar opposite of this. I don't like this and every time I see Leech Woman (for it is they) I see one very naked emperor. Narcissus Pool I do like. The guitar line (or synth) that spirals away under the vocals is like blood pumping in a vein thats too close to the surface. Makes me famished. This track oozes out the speakers and is very effective. On reflection (heh heh heh) one of the best tracks on here. Interlock finish this wonderful compilation (the travel sickness pills are working now). A classy track from a very classy act. The female singer in this band would be well worth becoming a stray over. Miles from home lost and horny this is the music that a canine would have on his Sony Dogman. 'The Hold' is an absoloute corker to finish a very worthwhile release. Don't take so long with Defcon 3 guys! 5//5" - Pity For Monsters Zine

Bleep, bleep and more bleep. Goodbye Industrial, hello EBM. It seems that its all we're getting in gothic clubland these days. A once exciting new scene has sort of become a self parody of itself. OK so there may be exceptions (Covenant, VNV Nation), but for the most part EBM just strikes me as an attempt to launch what is for the most part just average euro dance music on an impartial crowd. Which is why it so good to hear some GUITARS on an industrial release such as Bent USA's latest 'As You Like'. Not wanting to sound too Beavis and Butthead, but THIS ROCKS! Not to say that it wouldn't work on a dancefloor, there's electronic rhthyms a plenty, but these are coated in surging walls of guitars. Think Rammstein jamming with an overactive Sigue Sigue Sputnik.It has its spooky moments too though, 'Daddy' with its samples of a woman recounting the sexual abuse she suffered as a child it particularly unsettling. In light of all the B grade dance music that I've had to review in recent times, I wasn't particularly looking forward to this CD, but its one that I'd eagerly recommend to anyone who wants a reminder of where it all began. Be sure to catch Bent USA next time they're this way playing live, as their singer Thrush is also a fan of wearing some rather drafty trousers!" - Vision Thing Webzine

At

Interlock/Needleye - 'Death By Design'

 

"The idea: two of Britain's spunkiest up-and-coming industrial-metal heavyweights release a split EP. The outcome: sheer aural mayhem! With Interlock's black metal fused industrial anthems and Needleye's remanufactured Fear Factory style choons, this EP is an essential sampler of the other side of the alternative underground. Interlock's Hal has a black metal growl worthy enough to burn down any Scandinavian church, which contrasts beautifully with Emmeline's dulcet tones. A slapping bass, an eerie guitar and those famous speed metal drums - Interlock have found their niche away from the mish mash Korny sound of 'Submerged'. On the other hand, Needleye's Duncan has the kind of gutteral grunt that's guaranteed to send a shiver down your spine while their crisp, metallic slices of havoc will realise all your nightmares in one go. There's even a batch of remixes and an Interlock/Needleye duet, 'Death By Design', that is one of the most blissfully rowdy, intense metal epics you'll hear this side of hell. And watch out for that hidden track which nearly gave me a heart attack! Watch out world! Britain's unleashing two mighty animals that will put the willies up Burzum and his buddies! 5/5" - Meltdown

"With this paragraph, I intend to introduce you to one of the trickiest questions ever to face a music press writer, and it quite simply is this: what is the best CD to listen to before a night on the tiles, given the amount of music we listen to? By crikey, I do believe that these two bands may have just answered my question for me. This is a split album between these two incredibly talented bands, with four tracks each plus a rather stonking collaboration on the last track. First up is Interlock, whose industrial stylings could easily be compared to bands as diverse as Korn, Rammstein, and Die Krupps. Boasting both male and female vocalists, Interlock carve huge slabs of techno-rock bigger than Elvis's coffin, and have enough appeal to keep goth, metaller, and dance freaks happy. Pick of the bunch for me is "Further Than Reason". Needleye take a more Fear Factory/Machine Head approach to their particular brand of techno-terrorism, and do it exceptionally well. With such top quality tunes as "Dissolve" and "Solidify" in their arsenal, perhaps this could be the group to pick up the baton where Fear Factory have dropped it, and certainly would give Pitchshifter a suitable support band - just in case you are reading Mr Clayden. The best thing I can think of to recommend this album over anything else is that both bands are of the highest quality, and UK based to boot, so you have no excuse for whining when the next NIN album turns out to be pants.
This record now fuels my evenings out. Get in on this before they become huge.8/10" - Powerplay

"Industrial has gone through a creative no mans land over the past half-decade, the scene littered with dance-diguised-as-EBM clones and po-faced. Hence, there's an undeniable life-affirming feeling of contentment when one hears something which, although not strictly speaking original, is reminiscent of the days of old.
Interlock are the first of the two spearheading this revival in the capital's scene. Combining darkwave electronica in the vein of Tiamat's 'Wildhoney' glory days, FLA-meets-Rammstien electro-beats and heavy, chugging riffs, their amalgam of musical styles not only accounts for them as potential forces majeures but also their natural inclination to concoct darkly abrasive choons. Not to forget Emmeline's oh-so-sensual voice, set to cause some nocturnal emissions among us gents.
Think of Needleye as a direct descendant of Ministry and Fear Factory with a lead-heavy rifferama as mean as a bunch of 'Deliverence' -type Cajuns. The metronomic, surgically precise six-string delivery and pulse-generated drumming in 'Dissolve' might raise a few eyebrows westward in Vancouver's Devinland. Put simply this split CD is pure energy condensed. 8/10" - Terrorizer

"Split CDs are an excellent idea for likeminded bands to get their music across and share costs or simply combine running time. This double bubble featuring two of the most promising bands on the industrial scene at the moment however defies the most common form of such endeavours. Rather than playing 4 tracks each back to back these two bands alternate their tracks, which really does help fuse their sounds together in perfect harmony. I must admit I thought I had not encountered Interlock before but Steve remembered that they had been on 'No Holy Additives Part 2' with 'Rest.' Giving this a blast I can see how they have evolved and certainly beefed their sound out no end. Their first offering 'Divide' sets the tone and it is certainly a dark one. Guitars rattle away scything a passage with keyboards pulsating and booming away in the background. What really makes them stand out for me is the vocals. Hal Sinden provides the goods both cleanly but also more than capable of giving out low edged growls and death like grunts. He is accompanied by Emmeline May whose vocals are sultry in the extreme and add a highly sexual charged overtone to things. She also really reminds me of Kerstin singer of the long missed Senser. 'Closer To The Needle (Further From Reason remix)' is where they really start getting vicious with a booming KMFDM style barrage augmented by a techno style backing that harks back to The Shamen. Hal screams out "Desolate" at the top of his lungs and this booms away with a cyber edge like Fear Factory never existed. I love their last offering 'Forever Dark' which is an ambient darkwave piece that is sinister and downright unsettling. Samples about parasitic worms and cancer are used like something from a David Cronenberg nightmare and a real sense of nihilism is summed up with Emmeline declaring, “Leave this world”. Needleye blast off with 'Dissolve' which is instantly more heavy than anything on offer by Interlock and has drums blasting with ominous organic clanking noises. The programming goes completely haywire on this with so much going on in the background you will be lucky to take it all in. D. Wilkinson’s vocals are fierce and commanding burrowing away at you with no remorse. 'Drain' gurgles away with a sludge doom laden edge and contains a technological arrogance that leaves its peers for dust. The first time I heard the synthesized intro to Solidify (remixed by Interlock) I almost had to go grab an album I haven’t played in years The Human League's 'Dare' (and no I don’t mind admitting I have it). This reminds me of a long gone era and is definitely the Sound Of The Crowd gone wrong. 'Scratch The Surface' finishes off their 4 tracks and continues the dark images that Interlock's preceeding 'Forever Dark' forged. At first the sound of despair at the edge of the world but things suddenly become more uplifting with a really infectious piano led score. Finally both bands get the chance to play together with 'Death By Design,' which really fuses together a myriad of ideas. Fast, furious and very metal sounding it pounds away and left me waiting for the female vocals which were thankfully not long in coming. Be warned watch out for hidden track number 65 a chaotic drunken sounding 2 minutes of noise. You have been warned." - Live4Metal WebZine

"It’s been a long time since I’ve heard any truly inspiring guitar-based industrial music; looking back on my embarrassingly completist collection of KMFDM and their sound-a-likes, I often wonder what I saw in those bands to begin with. Then, however, this little gem fell into my possession: two unheard-of bands on a relatively obscure UK label that managed to pin me to the floor within the first few seconds – in a short baptism of noise, my faith in the genre was restored. The release is split equally between the two bands, each providing two original tracks, two remixes and a final collaboration between the bands. Both play a very contemporary blend of razor-sharp death metal and atmospheric, pulsing electronics; the word “blend” here being the operative word, as neither sound like a metal band trying to “go electro”, nor is there the cringeworthy sound of an electronic band throwing in some hackneyed guitar riffs. The mechanical rhythms that they employ work exceptionally well, providing incessant, precision blast beats that drill through the mix like a nail gun. Though, for all their similarities, each band has a very distinct and individual sound. Interlock’s music is decidedly more upbeat and grandiose in its execution, all awash with gurgling electronic noises and beatific female vocals atop the crunching guitars and thunderous rhythms. Needleye, on the other hand, have a more traditionally “death” approach, with brutal, rasping vocals and chaotically quick riffing. This is given a more contemporary setting, though, through the maelstrom of harsh electronics that seeps from every pore of the sound: crackling raw noise, distorted filter sweeps and piercingly resonant pads. If Merzbow joined Testament, it might sound a bit like this… The remixes that follow the initial 4-track offensive bring a more overtly industrial feel to the tracks, with strictly rhythmic basslines and pounding 4/4 beats. It’s all very easy club-fodder that, while enjoyable in a visceral way, lacks the intelligence and skilful innovation that really characterises the work of these two artists. It comes as no surprise, then, to find that the final track on the CD, the collaboration between the two, is the highlight of this release. Combining a tri-vocal onslaught of the bands’ singers with heavily punctuated start-stop structures and impossible robotic rhythms, it is dizzyingly incomprehensible, yet hugely enjoyable by the same token. 'Death by Design' is one of those rare albums that takes a dead horse and flogs it back to life, with both Needleye and Interlock providing serious rethinks of two languid genres, meshing them perfectly together to produce some genuinely exciting and immensely pleasing music." - Immanence WebZine

"Now this is far more sensible! Take two quite different UK bands breeding in a similar genre - Industrial Metal - and give them a well produced, well packaged CD with which to celebrate a tour and put the name on the street. Who's the better band? Well, that's not really important - Interlock pile on the power but have the subtlety of the female voice - they remind me heavily of Theatre of Tragedy and their 'Divide' is pure aggression and beauty. Needleye are putting more of a Die Krupps angle on things, so take your pick. The important thing is that it's very much a household effort, which is well worth supporting. With the demise of Godflesh, the UK Industrial fraternity need a boost. Both bands here will certainly benefit when that feel-good factor returns." - Rock Sound

 

 

V/A - Defcon One - 'Industrial Dawn'

 

"Industrial music is no more than than hard chart techno", states the booklet of the first releases by Armalyte Industries. And hence, trying to present an alternative to this evolution, this new english label has decided to hit hard for its first release, with 16 tracks of violent, guitarized, industrial rock. All you fans of technoid industrial, breakbeats and glitchy things, beware, this is coming directly from the forges that already made Ministry, KMFDM, Chemlab, some Nine Inch Nails, and the likes. Each track follow each other, delivering guitars riffs after guitars riffs, with very fast paced rhythms, angry distorted vocals and crunchy beats. It all goes from the very rocky pieces (K-Nitrate) to the more gothic ones (Chaos Engine), and explores a wide range of variations around industrial rock as you can hear it in goth clubs around the world. Even though some tracks sounded a bit too plain to my ears, my favorites on this compilation turned out to be, among others, the bands I was expecting the best material to come from. First, the Pain Machinery, whose demo and track on "Krach Test" were very good, offer the least guitar-ized and noisiest track on the sampler, with a very good use of samples. Then, Cubanate, by far the biggest act on this bill, appear with a rather good extract from their next album. This track "Razor Edge", starts rather weakly, but comes back to the sheer energy of the typical Cubanate material in its second half. Apart from these two very good contributions, I was also well impressed by Sulpher and Bloodthirsty Massacre (even though this is really anm horrible bandname), but the end of the compilatiom made me want to press the stop button several times, with a really bad goth track by Chaos Engine and another by Caffeine Kill (sorry, I am not sold to acid-batcave, or whatever this is). All in all, this compilation has a really nice energy and pushes a style that has been a bit in the shadow recently. However, one has to admit that several songs are really not that good, with some band that should work a bit more on an original sound. People into industrial rock should very probably check this sampler out, as well as fans of the kind of sounds you can hear in english clubs. I personnally think I will listen to this disc mostly for the couple of excellent tracks it features (and it will help me wait for the for the coming Pain Machinery and Cubanate albums)." - Recycle Your Ears WebZine

 

 

GIGS

 

Defcon Two Launch Nite - Camden Underworld - 03.07.03

 

"Action Direct had been described to me as being a “Communist Industrial” band and that certainly had me interested. They had a drum machine driven, power electronics with a strong nod to 80s synthpop kind of sound. They may well have gone down well on a dance floor at 1AM in the morning whilst chemically induced, but it was still light and the early few through the doors gave them only cursory acknowledgement and polite applause. This was quite a shame as the 3-piece had a nice hostile sound augmented by a melodic grace about them. It is all too easy to lump a band like this into a dance around your handbag and fix your makeup sort of style but with nice keyboard flows and in your face vocals, Action Direct were a step above this level. One track that could have been called Home had some nice darkwave beats that divulged into a gabba bounce but they still fell way short of displaying an industrial fucking strength. The Sepia were certainly a spectacle to behold as 2 band members were playing hand held keyboards and instead of strumming at the strings they were bashing away on the ivories. Musically they reminded me of a cross between Cabaret Voltaire and Jan Hammer and certainly bounded around enthusiastically. When we got vocals in the 2nd song they were way too low in the mix and had about as much of an impact as being hit round the head with a pillow. Techno breakbeats kept things ticking over but this was all well intentioned but lacking in substance. I was reminded of the Aphex Twin in places but this didn’t so much as make you want to Come To Daddy as pop round to Grandmas house for tea and biscuits. A tad harsh maybe as they certainly had a good beat and a dark edge but at the end of the day it just wasn’t enough to keep my interest. The Sepia are a band that are no doubt striving to get a support slot for Gary Numan and good luck to them. Interlock turned everything round on its head. At last we had a band with a drummer. Not only did they sound good, but they looked the part and dare I say put on a sexy performance. The vocal interplay between Hal Sinden and Emmeline May was excellent to watch. I certainly wasn’t reminded of either Lacuna Coil or Evanescence this was a more bitter and spiteful trade off. Starting off with Divide it became quickly apparent that Interlock are not an easy band to classify. Although they display industrial dance elements, with Hal’s vocal stance and grinding guitar assaults they could just as easily fit in with the death metal brigade. This was the first time I had caught them and I was taken aback at the raw ferocity they displayed on stage compared to what I have on CD. By Further From Reason I was well and truly won over by both the eclectic musical style and the chemistry sparking around the singers. Along with Needleye, Interlock could well be the future of British industrial metal. Judging by the snarling white noise I could hear from the back of the venue Leech Woman were on now. They set about building up a tribal cacophony with Rise and Rog battering the shit out of their respective kits. The sound engineer had things right tonight and even the noise from belting the hell out of a dustbin sounded brilliant. With Cardinal ringing in our ears the skinny dreadlocked frame of Alex B lurched into action and started screaming his head off. Then guitar joined the fray and we were in full riot mode. This had the impact of being crudely assaulted down a dark alleyway with a knife firmly pressed at your throat. Completely overwhelming and unrelenting they ploughed on like a motorway pileup with more and more scrap metal being twisted beyond recognition. Rog got the angle grinder out and sparks flew. Glad the Great White debacle hasn’t stopped them from doing this, but I am still waiting for the day the bloke sets his beard on fire. The insomniac tones of Tool had Alex screaming, “I cannot sleep” and probably woke up any neighbours trying to get some shuteye. The inherent nihilism was exemplified by the assault of Breaker and the self-hatred fuelled cries of, “I am nothing”. Every single stage movement was totally synchronised and the fluid tightness of the performance was captivating to watch. Everybody in the audience was sinuously twisting around and moving in motion with things. Quite honestly Leech Woman should have supported Ministry last night they would have certainly given Al a run for his money. My one complaint was that the set seemed slightly on the short side and Alex was still standing at the end of it (normally he is comatose in a heap on the floor by the end of the show). That aside with the visage of Bob Dobbs staring down at me from the drum kit I left feeling well and truly illuminated." - Live4Metal WebZine

 

Chaos Theory - Camden Underworld - 17.11.01

 

"Another week, another Armalyte Industries organised gig. Of course, it being Saturday and all, we’ve run into the obligatory problems with transportation, and whilst nobody’s flung themselves onto any railway lines this time or planted any bombs, the backlog of traffic from today’s rugby at Twickenham ensures that yours truly is at least an hour or so late for this gig. This gig is the second stage of a ball of thunder that began to roll at the Islington Garage last week, and whilst its still great to see such a forum for new acts, its sad that the crowd gathered is so small compared to that of certain higher profile events. With first band Action Directe there's something you don't tend to see that much in the industrial music world these days; a band with a really overt political message. Anybody with knowledge of French radicalist movements of the 1970s (now surely that's most of you) will know that a band with this name has to have a pretty far-left agenda. And in case you don't, these Leeds-based industrio-punk boys have Hammer & Sickle flags draped on the stage too. The music is pretty bass line-driven and seems to bring together a number of European influences from the last decade. The set had no shortage of energy, although the band members themselves didn't move around all that much. Mind you, there were films of hundreds of marching Soviets playing behind them... No matter the size of the horde in front of them, second act Arkham Asylum deliver a power chord punctuated barrage of electro clatter. Whilst the band’s mode of dress may be more nu metal than the dreads and combats usually favoured at these events, their sound is far more encompassing than any of Kerrang’s current darlings and despite being only a three piece, they ably manage to spread their sounds so that they engulf the entirety of the stage. Whilst the sheer size of their sound is obviously far huger the mere three piece gathered before us, there’s enough energy on display (Mini synth smashed against the wall and all!) alongside some manga film clips and footage of Maggie Thatcher to make us forget that there’s obviously some pre recorded assistance helping the band achieve their goals. The Sex Pistols for NIN fans? Maybe, just maybe. The Sepia have obviously made an impression somewhere, for despite this being my first contact with the band, they’ve managed to place themselves fairly high on this bill. After the quartet have begun their set it’s easy to see why. For the most part, The Sepia deal with instrumental EBM derived electro rhythms- Imagine a consumer friendly 242 coupled with Martin Gore’s ear for a tune and you’ll find as close a reference point as any to this band’s effect. Apart from a lone guitarist who only plays on a selection of songs, the band spend most of their time hammering out notes behind keyboards and various forms of equipment which encompass the entirety of the stage. Perhaps the most striking facet of the Sepia is the instrumental nature of much of their work- whilst there are a few select vocals, most of their tracks are so richly woven that the lack of spoken words is hardly noticed, which is most welcome in these times when many musicians betray their obvious talent with poorly conceived lyrics. The Sepia are quite happy to literally let their music speak for them. Yet that which is one of the band’s most obvious features at times works against them. The lack of an obvious front man creates a lack of focus for their performance and with little else to catch our eye, its easy find our view wandering from the stage. Perhaps having the guitarist to the front of the stage and utilising some snappier visuals could solve this. However, these are minor irritations, The Sepia prove themselves a welcome entrant to the industrial dance floor and a guaranteed future headliner. The Chaos Engine have been a fixture on the alternative scene for so long now it’s easy to forget just how long they have been around, and despite almost half a decade or performance, mainstream recognition still eludes them. The reasons why are a mystery- vocalist Lee H is unique in being one of the few industrial vocalists who can actually sing and despite their nods to heavier noise terror, the band are more than capable songwriters, as proved on their various appearances on Metal Hammer cover mounted CDs and compilations. If this wasn’t enough they are one of the few electro-derived acts who actually work better in a stage environment. Since we last met the Engine, there have actually been a few changes; Brian Molko-alike Bassist Kelly has departed to be replaced by not only a new bass player but also an additional guitar player. Likewise, the band’s music has moved away from a percussive trad Goth sound to a more feedback charged sensory assault. Lee has also begun to wear skirts (Obviously he prefers a draft!). The band have also decided to dump their dry ice machine in favour of some snappy CGI visuals. Set-wise they offer a mixture of old favourites such as ‘Nonconformer’ and ‘Lilith’ (One of the few times you’ll have an excuse to wave a lighter about at an industrial gig!) alongside new pieces, including ‘Custom Built for Anger’ from forthcoming LP ‘Escape Ferocity’. The performance is greeted with a hail of applause, but the band, and the others assembled here tonight, deserved far more of the same. How can so many fans of industrial alternative music complain about the lack of bands and gigs when so few of these ‘fans’ can be bothered to actually turn up and support the bands and promoters who are brave enough to stage such events? If we aren’t careful it’ll soon be Britney tributes and retro rave sounds across the board- You have been warned!" - Vision Thing WebZine

 

Legacy Of Brutality - Upstairs @ The Garage - 09.11.01

 

"It was a painfully cold Friday night in Islington, but some fiery and ferocious forces were gathering. Lost End, unfortunately, weren't among these forces as they had to pull out at the last minute, but none the less some fiery, loud and scary things were converging. Raaaargh... Liquidation kicked off the evening's entertainment with their take on the electro-beat/distorted guitar sound. With uniformly cyber-oriented clothing and flying dreadlocks galore, this new band sounded kind of like Front 242 with chugging guitar-sound turned up to eleven. True, some of the tunes seemed a bit too simplistic and samey, and the band didn't move around a whole lot on the stage, but considering this was their first major gig these faults are surely forgivable. The audience reacted warmly, and I'm sure that given time Liquidation could break further away from their influences and realise their full potential. Interlock followed on with an extreme metal barrage and even more flailing dreads. Despite not being a huge lover of the ultra-heavy rock sound, I've got to admit this energetic boy/girl group did get quite a bit of my adrenalin flowing to the right places. Not as melodic as what had come before, but at times the over-driven guitars would dip and make way for Rob Zombie-style mashed synth moments. Growly, shouty male vocals up against... shouty female vocals! And lots of weird gesturing and rubber outfits all over the stage is never a bad thing.Needleye are often compared (favorably) to Fear Factory. Which was a bit unfortunate on this particular night, as Fear Factory had decided at short notice to play a gig at the Astoria a few miles away. So then if quite a few people still made it to the Garage, that must be testament to the fact that Needleye have a decent fan-base of their own! Looming out of lots of green-lit smoke, and with their two guitar men standing forward of the stage like a pair of axe-wielding sentries, this lot made an impressively moody entrance. The music can be best described as very violent, yet very slick. A hugely confident and in-your-face performance, that left my ear-drums throbbing for the next 48 hours.". - Vision Thing WebZine

 

Defcon One Launch Nite - Camden Underworld - 26.05.01

 

"In the second Back to the Future movie, Doc Brown notes that’s its as if every event in the path of time and space can be traced back to one date - October 12th 1955. If you’re fan of alternative music the same could be said of May 26th 2001; In London alone this night we not only have Ozzfest, but also gigs by Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Womb and the latest Armalyte Industries bash. Taking the latter as our drug of choice we find ourselves at the Camden Underworld for the launch of Armalyte’s new compilation CD ‘Def Con I’. Sadly due to the obligatory problems with the trains and public transport, yours truly is a good hour late, and thus misses opening acts Caffeine Kill and The Aggression. A shame, as a past meeting with The Aggression proved them to be that all too rare thing in the music business - A bunch of genuinely nice guys (Not to worry, we’ll be looking at their last CD ‘Pure Liquid Ego’ soon). Still we’re lucky to catch the post apocalyptic cyberbilly hell of Needleye (MSV); And no, I haven’t got a clue what the MSV stands for- Multiple Scarred Victim? Moist Sweaty Vagina? Murder Shirley Valentine? With a band like Needleye such triviality doesn’t matter, they could call themselves Steps and their sheer aural violence would render any name invalid. Needleye are Disaster Area from the Hitch Hikers’ Guide To The Galaxy given flesh: Vast Fear Factory derived bursts of thundering juggernaut guitar crossing a wasteland of barren synths and aggressive punishment beats. Homicidal singer Duncan Wilson is the bastard offspring of Deicide’s Glen Benton and Phil Anselmo. Mohican totting synth player Richard Gorbult gleefully fingers his micro synth over his knees - If Satan ever possessed Jan Hammer this would be the result. After Hellstomper of Vision Thing favourites the Pain Machinery has spun some classic EBM tunes, the stage is graced by headliners The Saints Of Eden. The Saints are another offshoot from the ever-growing family tree of the Nephilim. Saints’ leader Cian Houchin played bass on the 1996 LP Zoon. But when Carl McCoy opted to disband that incarnation of the Nefilim, rather than join his former band mates in Sensorium, Cian elected to step out on his own, with a string of critically acclaimed albums following suit. But whereas Sensorium continue to explore the ethereal cyber metal of ’Zoon’ the Saints are a more contemporary animal; menacing guitar strokes played above trance like beats and spectral keyboard washes. Such a dance friendly sound owes itself well to club environment, but tonight is a live performance and as such the Saints can’t quite make their sound transfer over to the correct degree. There are some truly stunning computer generated visuals on display, but such is their impact that they over power the band completely. A repetitive bass drum is fine on a dance floor but soon grows tiresome after three songs and totally drowns out the other elements of the band. There’s a live bass player but I can’t remember hearing a single bass line all night, Cian’s sadistic voice is present but totally inaudible above the beats. They way in which the band are all tucked into the right of the stage hardly helps matters as for all the stage presence they possess they might as well not even be there. If the Cure ever went trance, they’d sound like the Saints, but even that proposal would be hard pressed to fill out the length of a set as long as this. By the end of their set there’s a larger crowd gathered around the bar than the stage, and despite Cian’s best efforts, their show is soon forgotten. Still, Mr Houchin bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Kurt Cobain- maybe a cover of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ would jolly along future shows?" - Vision Thing WebZine

 

Violent New Breed - Camden Underworld - 03.02.01

 

"Just by taking a look at the names of the four bands on tonight's bill, you didn't need to be a genuis to guess this wasn't gonna be an evening of tea and cakes. I was looking forward to this event mostly because I'd heard of all the bands but had never actually heard a single one. English band Maruta Kommand's self-released debut album, Holocaust Rites, recently received a more than respectable 8/10 in Metal Hammer, and judging by the amount of people already on the dancefloor, many had come to check out this, their debut gig. A four-piece live, MK's WWII back projections of Hitler, Stalin, victims and weaponry set the tone for the entire evening. Two percussionists, a half naked lead vocalist with a bespectacled 'scientist' sat at a table fiddling with small boxes made for an interesting stage presence. Maruta Kommand quickly established a disinctive atmosphere with their exploration of the less attractive aspects of the human psyche. Most memorable was the slow tempo of much of their set rather than the more obvious thrash approach one might expect from death industrial. Similarly, the vocalist avoided resorting to the standard screams and yells, instead making great use of weird vocoder effects so that half the songs sounded like they were performed by a demented Dalek. Refreshingly non-macho, MK's death-march tribute to the dead was a thought-provoking and impressive way to begin tonight's procession. Immediately more 'electronic' than their predecessors, Swedish three-piece The Pain Machinery picked up the tempo and, once again, utilised back projections to add extra interest. Again, this was another live debut. This time it was a slightly odd (but effective) montage taking in everything form Pop Art to dental records. The stage image was markedly different to Maruta Command but no less interesting. The vocalist (who also played the odd piece of percussion and keyboards) was flanked by a casually-dressed guitarist and cool drummer wearing regulation goggles. Both drummer and guitarist wore red tops and gave the stage a nice symmetry. Again, relying more upon an emerging mood than conventional verse/chorus/verse song structures, The Pain Machinery's heavily-treated, anguished vocals and driving drums, overlayed with copious amounts of noise, was an interesting combination of accessible electronics and less immediate but equally effective darker tones. The ever-growing audience clearly appreciated what they heard and I wouldn't be surprised if we see TPM back in the UK before too long. "This is Punsihment State" announced the singer of this British outfit that blend elements of Front Line Assembly, Front 242 and Cubanate. The result is precisely what you'd expect from such a focused combination, and brought more 'melody' to the night. This despite the fact that at times three of Punishment State were simultaneously playing percussion! The PVC-clad female at the rear of the stage combined some backing vocals and the odd drum whack with some nice posturing. Maintaining the good presentation, this bunch had projections too, even if they were a touch more 'home made' than what had gone before. The softcore porn clips were entertaining though. If they could loose the shackles of their influences, Punishment State could go on to be more distinctive - their energetic frontman already has the right attitude. It's been some time since I've heard so much about a band, and other people's opinions of them, before having heard them myself. Everything I'd heard about UK outfit Sulpher (who count ex-members of The Creatures and Curve among their number) was positive. Very positive. The tag line was always "Curve meets Nine Inch Nails" and although not a huge fan of either of those bands, there surely had to be something to all these excited comments I read and heard. Sure enough, there is. Sulpher's sound has a large crossover potential and it didn't take long to realise they are going places and, if the manic crowd now crushed onto the modest dancefloor of the Underworld was anything to go by, it won't be long before some wise (and probably quite large) label gets them to sign on the dotted line. Musically, everything from the terrific drummer to the memorable bass guitar was imaginatively structured and instantly impressive. Most tracks were driven by the heavy drums and lead guitar, but there were a couple where the synths led the way. Aside from the above-mentioned bands, at times the heavier stuff touched on Ministry territory and it was difficult not to believe that MTV could be beckoning sooner rather than later. The temperature was rising rapidly as the crowd got more worked up. "This rubber stuff is fucking hot" said Sulpher's vocalist of his black, tight-fitting top. Time was running out as the 10.30 curfew rapidly approached. A extremely brief but powerful encore brought the event to a sudden close, but the audience had clearly enjoyed every second. Catch Sulpher just as soon as possible, before their global popularity rules out any more gigs at venues as small as Camden's Underworld. Tonight's event was brought to the UK industrial scene courtesy of a new promotion set up called Armalyte Industries. Their aim is to keep the term 'industrial' true to its origins, with the emphasis on the darker, heavier side of the scene with no concessions to the lighter electro pop movement sweeping across Europe at present. I suspected that this was so niche a target audience as to be unprofitable. If the Slipknot T-shirts and bad BO were anything to go by then there was obviously a metal crossover appeal to tonight's line up, and with over 300 people making the effort on a cold Saturday night this must be seen as an unqualified success. I look forward to hearing from Armalyte Industries again".- Dark Star Web Zine