Their name was formed from two radically different ideologies. Aslan is a character from author/theologian CS Lewis Chronicles Of Narnia is a representation of Jesus Christ in a make believe world. Faction is a group usually having strong, radical beliefs often employing violent methods. Their sound is a mixture of bands such as Wumpscut, Hocico and Suicide Commando. Their music has a combination of harsh as well as filigree melodies. I am sure you will enjoy catchy melodies and danceable rhythms with an aggressive electronic beat. Aslan Faction’s first album is divided in two parts: blue pill and red pill. There you will find songs like Resurrection, Blood Letting, Forced Bleeding, Contagion Flow and Bring On The Dying that will certainly make your body move. This UK based duo brings a lot of variety and is a highly recommended electro newcomer.

In 1996, Franck Ackermann and his brother Erwin recycled their popular rock’n’roll band to introduce a revised version. The first album they recorded would never reach the outside world for various reasons. In December 1999 Erwin is involved in a car crash making him quadriplegic. Without his brother, Franck decides to suspend the project for a while. Now, the first album, Inside Nonsense, of this band from Calais, France is released in a special limited edition. The disc begins with End Connection which immediately gives me the idea that this music is a blend of Rammstein and The YoungGods. The sound is powerful with solid vocals but still subtle elements are provided. Delerium Tremens is the only song with French lyrics and Heaven Distortion is a strange industrial outro. Other remarkable tracks on this industrial rock album are Majestic Sacrifice and Last Pray. In the meanwhile, Jailbird is already working on the next album, Cerebral Distorsion.

Spacey, aggressive and sedative, all at once. Having discarded the classic distorted vocals and harsh electronic aggression of "Eulogy For a Buried Child" this is a shift of direction for the young group. With this CD, they switch to a fuller, rawer sound, with nontreated vocals and danceable industrial-electro ferver, not too unlike the old Pendragon Records sound of experimental and progressive industrial, a little like Fektion Fekler a bit... They even incorperating a female vocalist for the ever-popular ethereal effect on "Disoriented", but none of the corny ethereal cheesiness incorporated wit most electro-ethereal transitions. Lizabeth Boada sings with pure sensuality, lacking from most ethereal vocalists. All in all I think this is a healthy mode of change for IR, that the first CD was their learning experience of sorts. Definitely recommended. Rating: 9.
Look for an interview here with the group very soon, by the way. Thanks Sara/Nocturna for the CD!

Inspired by water A CALLIOPE is a sum of twelve years of activity of this Italian band. Always focused on medieval atmospheres this CD represents the right compendium for whom would like to approach himself to the mellow melodies and the calm atmospheres of the Ataraxia's acoustic realm. Flutes, acoustic guitars, drums, piano and strings duet with Francesca's chants bringing to you ancient melodies and stories. Each release has been covered and fourteen out of sixteen tracks follow step by step the different CDs, starting from "Simphonia Sine Nomine" to "Suenos" passing through "La Malédiction d'Ondine" and "Il Fantasma Dell'Opera", just to name few. The last two tracks "Arcana Eco" and "A Calliope" are new ones and close the CD with a dedication to Calliope, sublime mother of their inspiration. The CD comes with a 32 page booklet and a poster which are the visual counterpart of the music.

Being released in 1999 as a limited edition 10" THE ANDRONECHRON INCIDENT is a soundtrack of the same l'Ultimo Pictures International's motion picture. Performed by David Thrussell (Black Lung) and John N. Sellekaers (Xingu Hill) the CD is a revised edition containing the full nine tracks soundtrack. The music is a mixture of progressive groovy ambient tunes mixed up with catchy and dreamy soundscapes which suddenly stop and give some space to jazzy inserts raped by hisses and various noises. Listening to this soundtrack it gives me the idea that the movie should be surrealist, obsessive and experimental. Since I haven't seen it, let's see what the liner notes tell about it: "Never screened outside of italy, THE ANDRONECHRON INCIDENT, is an oddity even in the singularly odd genre (experimental european science-fiction) to which it clearly belongs. More arthouse, perhaps even surrealist cinema than spaceflight saga it juxtaposes minimal dialogue against startling visuals and an, at times, jarring soundtrack. One apparently normal morning the world awakens to the sight of large egg-like structures randomly appearing across our oceans. Various news items report the global reaction and inform us shortly of further unusual events. Hours after the first sightings a multitude of organic and non-organic objects sprout mechanical attachments and appear to grow in cyborg-like fashion". This movie should be like a nightmare and it's a shame we've got only the opportunity of listening to its soundtrack, but meanwhile...