Antimoderne Tonträger

When this compilation was announced on ChondriticSound it created quite a buzz. And indeed it is an outstanding release. Check out the review after the jump.

The opening track „Wings Of Revolution“ is provided by Grunt. Pulsing synth-sounds, gritty textures and heavily processed vocals form a great power-electronics track, done the european way. 88MM present „Funeral March Of The Cosmological Principle“, a loop-based, very structured track. A machine like sound with heavy use of reverb that finally collapses into spheric, almost orchestral sounds. „Statue003″ by Griz+Zlor is a nice contrast to the predecessing tracks. Overdriven, saturated and static waves of distortion with minor or almost no movement. Very harsh. Brethren provide a track in their trademark, structured and controlled style with the typical vocal delivery we all love. Very strong track. The production here seems to be a bit more raw than on their previous releases. Emil Beaulieau’s „The Wild Goose Goes“ is constructed of vocal-fragments, mixed with hissing high frequencies and occasional blast of distortion. Very dynamic and with a nice use of panning. „Wake Up And Kill“ by Mania is a monster of high-pierced feedbacks, rumbling noises and blasting distortion. A total inferno of anger and rage and again a nice contrast to the predecessing track, which is more calm and relaxed. Purient starts it’s track with a noisy loop, but then suddenly there is an explosion of distortion and feedback with almost black-metal-like vocals sitting on top of the production. Extremely harsh and brutal. PE-legends The Grey Wolves present some vocal-driven euro-style pe. Whispered voices and commanding chants form a dense and threatening atmosphere without being extremely brutal or aggressive. „Disposable Women“ by FFH starts with some quite synth-drones, slowly distortion creeps in from the distance and suddenly a wall of noise blasts from the speakers and dominates the rest of the track, burying any sound-source under massive waves of endless-distortion. Green Army Fraction’s „Wielder“ is another example of well-crafted power electronics, based upon synth-loops and the controlled working of feedbacks. The only material of Fleshobedience I knew was his demotape from 2007, which is excellent material. „Defectives“ is another example of prime lo-fi harshnoise/power electronics, creating a dense and intimidating feeling of negativity. Up next is Pain Nail with a track entitled „Watchtower“. Low, distant rumbles and shouted vocals, synths are slowly creeping in, forming an almost 8-minute-long, tension-packed mammoth of a pe-track. Very impressive material which really spawned my interest in the project. Nefarious Complex’s „Hymn Of A Psycho“, though not a bad track, to me is the weakest track on the compilation. Maybe the use of guitars (which I do not like in the context of pe, at least not if the sound like guitars) effected my judgement. The disc is closed by „Monolith“ by Deathkey. A strong power-electronics track, a brutal wall of noise and saturated, blistering distortion with a heavily processed vocals on top. Sounding almost like a typical Slogun song. Though I am no real friend of this project I have to admit that „Monolith“ is a really strong track.

The disc comes in a regular cd-case with an extensive, pro-printed booklet. The tracks show a nice and wide variety of sounds, all emerging from a foundation of harshnoise/power electronics. Judging by this compilation the genres seem to be alive and well. The disc is compiled very, very well and almost all of the tracks keep a super-high quality-level. As the „Vol. 1″ in the title indicates chances are that there is gonna be a second issue (or even a series). I cannot wait for that to be released. Vol. 1 is a must-have-release of 2008.