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6Comm: One Mans Hel

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Artist: 6Comm
Title: One Mans Hel
Format: CD
Label: Kenaz
Rated: * * * * *
Active since 1986, they released the first album "Content With Blood" the year after. Now, after about thirty years of life, 6Comm is no more. Patrick Leagas decided that it was time to focus his energies on his other projects of the likes of: PatrickL (Spring 2016 will see released "Godlesstate 1", the first album under this moniker), Schrage Musik and Godlesstate. "One Mans Hel", then, will be the last album containing unreleased or new songs by 6Comm. Released as a six panel digipack with an 8 pages booklet containing lyrics and photos, the album contains eleven tracks written during the 1984-2015 period and never released before under this form. The album is reflecting how the project was sounding live during the last three years and it's musically split into three parts. The first part is made of four songs rhythmically driven which sound really powerful, thanks to pounding drums and bass. "One Mans Hel", "Angel Scream", "Red Cloak" and "Othila" sound angry and energetic and, the latter one, almost "rock", thanks to guitar arpeggios and distorted guitar riffs. I think that probably the lyrics focused on war and religion needed such atmospheres and they work really well. The second part is opened by a classic Death In June "Nada" song here revisited: "Doubt To Nothing", here is called "Doubt To Death" and it's sounding intimate and heartbreaking. Male and female vocals duet on a piano/strings background while the drum lines little by little are doubled just to end into a grand finale which slowly ends into silence. "What Time Is It", is sounding experimental and its looping synth droning sounds function as a background for layers of treated vocals, hisses and nightmarish atmospheres. "Kalashnikov Vodka Bar Mix" is a nice rework of "Kalashnikov Is My Friend", track coming from "Headless". This version is more focused on percussions and the different elements are better balanced. "Rosewood Cuts" alternates ambient synth sounds with Easter folk ballads atmospheres, creating, in this way, a particular dreamy effect where the lyrics sound like a poem ("You and we are lost / We'll find our kingdom at some cost / Our way is blocked by shiny things safe all locked / you want a taste of what you have been waiting for / The ring you kissed beneath the goats foot tail / Awaiting those finest thingstake your harvest from the woods"). "This Must Be Love" is another track which is sounding like a dreamy trip in balance from spoken word and a lysergic atmospheres. The last two songs, are forming the third part of the lot and have an acoustic arrangement. The effect created by the passionate way of singing the lyrics and the acoustic elements dueting on "Twisted Love" and "Dream 39" made me feel dizzy and immerse into a fluffy cloud. A nice thing about the photos of the booklet: the one you find on the first page, reveals how the "Content With Blood" cover born as, if you look carefully, you'll notice that the image reflected into the water is what Patrick used for cover. This, maybe, is only a way to close the circle and to go on with renewed energy. Only a note: reading my review you could think that the album is a collection of found tracks gathered here only to greet 6Comm, well, let me say that "One Mans Hel" doesn't sound nothing like that, as it sounds like an inspired album where Patrick wanted to experiment and succeeded into creating a convincing album full of fresh ideas. So long 6Comm and thanks for all the years of passion and music!

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