Artist: 9th Evolution

Album: Retro Americana

Release Date: April 1st, 2012

Genre: Industrial, Rock

Parental Advisory: Yes

Recommended if you Like: Marilyn Manson, Chemlab, Nine Inch Nails

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again.  It’s tough to review a record when it’s your friends’ record.  It’s hard to distance yourself from the friend and his creative product, but I try and do my best and once again I’ll try with this.

On 9E’s last album I was impressed with the sonic landscape that Nicolas and company had textured together along with his political lyrics and aggressive style of delivering his message to his audience.  9E is back and they are ready to take over your stereo speakers.  Does anyone listen to stereos any more?  Any who back on point.  What 9E are best at are delivering a slab of industrial rock.  It’s not in your face ala Marilyn Manson though Nicholas does share a few characteristics with the pop culture icon and shock rocker.  It’s more about the timbre of the vocals than the subject matter, and it’s more about his phrasing.  Where Manson tends to beat his “shock” like a dead horse, Nicholas actually makes interesting use of his voice delivering dynamics and heartfelt songs about the world he sees around him.

While I’m not big on lyrics it’s not my forte what Nicholas is doing on this record works and it works with the music.  At times I kind of wish the vocals weren’t as far up front in the mix as they are, but I understand the importance of the mix he is going for.  This album could easily see some play at active rock radio and fit into any programmers playlist that has Nine Inch Nails or Marilyn Manson spinning in their current rotation.

As far as the production on the record goes this is great work.  Everything sounds crisp and clean and it’s easy to pick out all the sounds and tones which for me, as a musician and producer, is important for me to hear in the mix.  I like hearing everything and hearing where it lives in amongst all the other sounds.  Nicholas and crew have done a great job sculpting their music to fit into one cohesive unit and they are definitely delivering something here that needs to be heard on a larger scale than just a small scene of people in Florida.

9th Evolution isn’t here to take your daughters, they aren’t here to take your sons, 9th Evolution are hear to steal your ears and take them on a journey through their world and their mind for 60+ minutes and I invite you to trip down that path with them.  While this record doesn’t break any new ground in the genre it’s definitely done well enough to enjoy by anyone with a love of music and concepts.

3 out of 5 Stars.

This album was provided to me in advance by 9th Evolution.

Posted under Album Review, Music

Artist: Front Line Assembly

Album: Improvised.Electronic.Device

Genre: Industrial

Vocal Style: Male, Distorted

Label: Metropolis Records

Parental Advisory: No

Recommended if You Like: Fear Factory, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Left Spine Down, Millennium Era FLA

Front Line Assembly - Improvised.Electronic.Device

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Front Line Assembly and have been for years.  Being the Wax Trax fan that I am how can I not be a fan of FLA.  I even had the opportunity to interview Rhys Fulber on the Hard Wired tour and spent some time hanging out with Jeremy Inkle on the MidiGhetto Tour in La Crosse Wisconsin with Chemlab, 16Volt and Left Spine Down (Jeremy’s other band).  I even got to spend some time chatting with Chris DeMarcus who also worked on this album on that tour.  So I guess I’m starting out this review pretty biased since I know a lot of the people that personally worked on this album and have spent time joking with them about a bag of genitals on the tour bus.    But a couple of weeks ago Metropolis Records sent me an advance on this album and I’ve been listening to it non-stop for weeks now.  I’m absolutely blown away by it.  Often times Caustic Grip or Tactical Neural Implant are called the best FLA albums since they were the first albums to really cross-over and make them the stars they are today in the industrial music scene.  But for me Millennium hit at the perfect time.  It was the bridge between Ministry and Skinny Puppy and remains one of my all time favorite records ever.  So when I popped this album on the iPod and I was greeted by the same tones, the same style as Millennium I was immediately hooked.

During the mid to late 90′s Rhys Fulber stepped out of FLA to take some time to work in the Metal genre, something that he has always done producing and working on albums by bands like Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad and Nailbomb, at that time Bill Leeb brought in other collaborators to work with and the sound of FLA shifted to a more EBM or IDM feel.  The guitars were kind of lost and so was the aggression of the previous records.  The dark lyrics remained but the music shifted a bit.  It felt less aggressive to me.  Artificial Soldier was a step back towards the FLA that I fell in love with but finally Improvised.Electronic.Device is right back to the FLA that I love.

Pounding beats.  Brooding and extremely dark lyrics.  Metal guitars and some of the best production out there in the industrial genre.  This is Front Line Assembly at the top of their collective game.  Perfect timing too cause the genre needs a good kick in the pants and who better to do it than one of the pioneers who influenced all of us to do what we do today.  Before I wrap this up I must mention the two stand out tracks for me on the record.  Angriff stands head and shoulders about the rest and the Al Jourgensen track Stupidity (which could easily fit on a Ministry record) is just devastatingly awesome.  The album dropped on iTunes and in stores yesterday, do yourself a favor and just run out and buy it now.  You won’t be sorry.

4 1/2 Stars out of 5

Front Line Assembly – Improvised.Electronic.Device courtesy of Metropolis Records.

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Artist: Veil Veil Vanish

Album: Anthem For A Doomed Youth (Digital Download 1-5-10)

Genre: The Cure

Vocal Style: Male, Clean, Melodic

Label: Metropolis Records

Parental Advisory: No

Recommended if You Like: 80’s New Wave, The Cure, Southern Death Cult, 80′s New Romantic Bands, Remixes

Veil Veil Vanish - Anthem For A Doomed Youth

As most people who know me can attest too, I’m a huge fan of The Cure.  In fact I was just lamenting the other day with my Netflix buddies that my top four musical influences are The Cure, Depeche Mode, Ministry and Skinny Puppy.  So what does this have to do with Veil Veil Vanish?  Well folks if anyone is carrying a torch for late 80′s or early 90′s Cure it would be Veil Veil Vanish.  Keven Tecon is a dead on version of Robert Smith during his Pornography era.  While some may think this could hinder this band I say neigh.  Upon hearing the first track “Anthem For A Doomed Youth” on this digital download I was hooked.  This is what I wish The Cure was doing today.

It’s rare that I hear something on the first listen and am really moved to listen to it over and over on repeat, and that is exactly what happened today.  This download will be released on January 5th through Metropolis Records.  It features two album tracks and three remixes of the title track.  The remixes are nifty, but really it’s the two album tracks that have me hooked and coming back for more.  Their full length album is slated for a February release date and I can’t wait to hear it.

So if you’ve been hungering for some great 80′s vibes along the lines of the early Cure and even a bit of the old Southern Death Cult then pick up this EP next Tuesday.  You won’t be disappointed.

Veil Veil Vanish – Anthem For A Doomed Youth EP courtesy of Metropolis Records.

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Artist: Assemblage 23

Album: Compass

Genre: Industrial, EBM, Synth-Pop, Euro-Techno

Vocal Style: Male, Clean, Melodic, Distorted (Mild)

Label: Metropolis Records

Parental Advisory: No

Recommended if You Like: 80′s New Wave, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Justin Timberlake (If you don’t believe me listen to the track “Collapse” and tell me it wouldn’t fit with JT’s “Sexy Back”)

Assemblage 23 - Compass

I’ve been familiar with Assemblage 23 and Tom Shear through the years.  First hearing some of his cover versions on various 21st Circuitry Records releases like Newer Wave and Newer Wave 2.0, but I’ve never actually listened to a full album of Assemblage 23 material.  Well now that that has been rectified and can honestly say this is one of the best EBM, dance albums I’ve heard in YEARS.  Seriously folks, this is a good record.

First off like I mentioned above the song “Collapse” is an instant classic.  “Smoke” may be the first track on the album, and a good one at that, but Collapse is just unstoppable and really could easily beat up Justin Timberlake’s “Sexy Back” with it’s dirty rhythms and ultimate funkiness.  I adore this track and it quite easily could be my favorite song on the record but right now it’s tied with “How Can You Sleep?”.  “How Can You Sleep?” is a total nod to Depeche Mode circa I’d say Ultra or Songs of Faith and Devotion with perhaps just a dash of Violater for good measure.  But in no way is this track a rip off of Depeche Mode.  Nope, it stands alone as an Assemblage 23 song and is another great stand out on this record.

Compass has many things going for it, huge keyboard melodies with pop sensibilities.  GREAT big beats with HUGE kick drums that get your body beat moving (Combichrist pun not intended).  At times it has a real 80′s feel to it, I even wrote in my notes “Thompson Twins” at one point in time (take that with a grain of salt).  But Compass does have a couple of faults.  Tom’s vocals don’t have a ton of range and after awhile it starts getting a little same sounding.  The music is great but at times the beats start to run together which doesn’t help the same sounding vocals a lot.  The beginning also features the strongest songs and by the end the album starts to get a little melodramatic for my taste.

So do yourself a favor and run out and grab this record today.  I can’t stress enough how much fun this record is and how much I enjoyed listening to it.  Not to mention I am in LOVE with Shear’s production on the record.  So there ya have it folks, the perfect album for the kids in black to dance too.    **** out of ****** stars.

Tom Shear - Assemblage 23 Photo: Bob Libby

Assemblage 23 – Compassprovided courtesy of Metropolis Records.

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Skylar Johnson has been making quite a name for himself in the Cedar Valley lately.  First off he’s the first ever hip hop artist to ever get some stage time at the Sturgis Falls Celebration in Cedar Falls.  That’s no small feat in itself.  I’ve heard Skylar’s stuff on and off again over the years.  He happens to be signed to my old college roommates record label A+9 Records based in Bakersfield California.  I saw Skylar perform one song with Psuedo Sleep Project at the Steb’s Reunion and asked him if I could get a copy of his new CD for review and he obliged me.  So on to the review.

What struck me on first listen to Johnson’s full length album was his vocal style.  It falls somewhere between Eminem and Kanye West, he has a smooth delivery that at times can be aggressive without shouting, he also has a great grasp of language and paints vivid pictures of the life he sees around him.  Whether it be political like “Marijuana Revolutions” featuring Aeon Grey (another A+9 artist) or personal like “A Longer Lunch”.  What I think I like most about Johnson’s words is the simple Iowa honesty that he uses.  There isn’t rapping about guns, drugs (Marijuana Revolutions isn’t about smoking pot but a political mindset that Johnson sees as a problem), cars, money or women.  He raps about the world around him, whether it be his day job or the music that inspired him to create.  Johnson’s words are chosen carefully and at times are very very poignant.

Johnson also has an ear for melody and the album is full of guitars and pianos.  Not in the sense you may have become accustomed to with rap or hip hop either.  He uses these instruments as songs, not so much as samples.  He does his own hip hop version of the classic “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” and he actually lets the traditional instruments stand out on the bridge and be their own thing.  His use of melody is a nice and welcome break in a genre that is often plagued by repetition and a lack of creativity.

But it isn’t all roses on this record.  In the same way that “Will the Circle be Unbroken” is good because of it’s melody and traditional uses of instruments, it suffers from Johnson’s singing voice.  I applaud him for trying something new, but Johnson’s range or perhaps his confidence holds him back on the songs where he is singing the melody.  Also being more production minded myself, the album suffers from a lack of a full range of sounds.  Johnson’s vocals are first and foremost in the mix, like most hip hop, it’s based on the vocals.  They are the hook, the melody, the meat and potatoes, but I feel like the rest of the disc suffers from a lack of attention to the music that surrounds the vocals.  Apart from “Marijuana Revolutions” the beats all fall flat and lack any dynamic range.  The true test for me is my car speakers and I’ve listened to this album several times in there, and the beats just never come through like I like.  That may not be a problem for some listeners, especially those that spend more time with vocals than I do, but for me, if the whole package isn’t there then I start drifting away from the music and thinking about how I would have done that kick differently.

All in all Skylar Johnson has a winner on his hands here.  Most people aren’t going to be nearly as critical of the music with Johnson’s excellent abilities on the mic and interesting stories to take up most of their attention span.  In my car this morning listening to the album one final time on my way to work I came up with a genre for this record and I think it fits perfectly.  Hip Hop Bluegrass.  I recommend this to fans of engaging well thought out hip hop and people who enjoy NPR.  Believe me, this album has some surprises on it.

3 1/2 Stars out of 5.

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