After three years from the release of "Neo Milenio" finally the band did it, releasing a perfect blend of melody and power titled METAMORFOSIS. The album is really different from the first one and even if the band didn't detach from the ebm genre this new one opens the sound to new influences and ideas. Being less raw than "Neo Milenio", METAMOFOSIS with tracks like "Estrellas" or "Indiferencia" explores better the electronic/melodic solutions obtaining in this way more exposure toward the alternative dance scene. They aren't sellouts but the tracks in this way sound more fresh and interesting than the usual beat assault. For sure the tracks are based on the ebm cliche but you know, there are different ways of using the gears... The only weak point in my opinion is represented by the excessive lenght of the tracks which during six of seven minutes tend to make loosing the attention to the listener.

Despite the title which recall the first Sex Pistols' album, NEVER MIND THE MSBR has got nothing to do with punk music at all! Divided into two long tracks ("MBR Not MSBR" and "Never Mind The MSBR, Here's The MBFR") the CD contains seventy minutes of noise, screams and stuff. The first track isn't structured at all and it has got an "in your face" attitude, while the second one is more experimental and starts with distant delayed and reverbered drums with improvised concrete noises just to increase little by little during its fifty six minutes lenght, adding more noise and speeding up a little the rhythm which change time to time. Sonic anarchy seems to be the main Napalmed's target and this make of this CD an album for the lovers of extreme noise manipulations/improvisation. Too bad there's no writing support to their noise assault, this would been helpful for understanding the band's thoughts, because since I know they put a lot of economical efforts in releasing this CD I think they did it with a purpose...

This is a club heavy collection of Psyche tracks and remixes including a remix of "Goodbye Horses". The first track on this release to grab my attention is "Memento" which starts out with a Depeche Mode like bass grind. It's got a nice groove to it and a dark synthpop feel to it combined with the smooth vocal harmonies Psyche are known for. The mix of "The Hiding Place" on this disc is doen by Massiv In Mensch with the influence of the bouncey dance beats with heavy technology and slight trance feel like their latest album Die Rein. This is a very nice track indeed as it features two of ArtOfFact Records top bands coming together. The first mix of Renegades sounds like a live mix (or at least it has lots of crowd noise on the intro). It's begins with piano but quickly moves into a thumping deep dub rhythm.
The track I found most interesting is the Tokyo Club Mix of "Goodbye Horses" as the original had some interesting melodies but this club mix takes the song to a completely new level. There's just something about the beat of that single that screams gay disco but I love it anyway.
Dropping the pace quite a bit and modifying the overall tone and structure the song "Eleven" reminds me of Art of Noise when ambient. That's the only way I know how to explain it. It has that same pipe-like sound combined with ambient piano and environmental textures. A beautiful piece! This is probably my next favorite next to "Goodbye Horses" though they change the entire song about midway through as it evolves into a much more upbeat rhythm and percussion thing with a choral sound added in then replaced by a nearly standard techno drive. This is a very intersting mix of styles and textures and completely unexpected. I like surprises (5 points guys).
The original version of "Damaged Soul" I think is clear enough and outshines the mixes. Lastly, I don't know what that synth effect is on "Prisoner To Desire" but I love it. The vocals at the beginning sound so 1980's though. Of course it was done in 1987 but included here anyway so I guess it's forgiven as it is still interesting if not a bit confusing.

First full length release for this German quintet, after the 1999 EP "The Death is Behind You" and the compilation appearance "The Wisdom" in the Astan music magazine sampler. Felsenreich play mildly complex goth-rock with some symphonic arrangements here and there (see the eponymous track, opening and closing the work); the voice has some Bauhaus resemblance, while the music is more in the vein of Garden of Delight. I can say they're good musicians and I guess it's a well done work for its own genre, but honestly, I haven't been thrilled at all by their performance. Plus the programmed drumming doesn't fit with the more aggressive and rocking tracks, giving them a bad "plastic-sound". I really think they should give a more definite identity to their sound, as ideas and technics are good, but still out of focus. Or possibly it's only a problem of mine with goth-rock...

Solstice # 26, this time not a solo work of Asano's but a 2-part composition (72') played by the Koji Asano Ensemble, Tomomi Tokunaga (violin) and Kentaro Suzuki (contrabass). Recorded at Katsushika Symphony Hills (Tokio), "Spherical Moss Factory" is a very interesting work which, according to my (limited) knowledge of Asano's extensive production, is partly a confirmation and partly a surprise. The torturing a-melodic drones and hisses coming from the bowed strings remind of his massive 4xCDs "The Last Shade of Evening Falls", and in general the claustrophobic wall of sound, with subtle micro-variations within, is very typical of his work; thus said, there are also more canonic and "reassuring" passages close to chamber or contemporary music, which gives the cd a welcome second dimension with lighter, more delicate moments. As usual, very elegant photographic layout by Asano himself.