A 50 minutes long remix EP with the both tracks ?Why?" and ?Tonight" released by the new "Electrogoth-Industrial-Electrofetish" project of the new millenium. Don’t ask me what this cool sounding description effects on the music of Tech and Tasha, to my taste they are playing a kind of typical US Coldwave-Industrial along the lines of acts like KMFDM or comrades. No wonder indeed when Mr. En Esch took his hands as a producer on this stuff, so alone this fact could easily explain their sound. Both tracks are presented here in their originally versions, "Why?" features the main vocals by Tech, while "Tonight" has mainly Tasha’s intense vocals. "Why?" is a hard hitting straight-in-your-face track with some nice dark vocals by Tech and all good attitudes in their very own style. This track receives here 7(!!!) remix works by among others SYRIAN, XP8, ASLAN FACTION, E.R.R.A., BOZO PORNO CIRCUS, CTRLer and PIGFACE (Martin Atkins). Outstanding is the one done by SYRIAN, especially to remove the guitar sounds and to give the track a faster speed works great here and could easily work at European clubs with only Electro-fronted audience. Also well produced is the one by XP8 which breaks through the ready recorded vocal lines and gives the track a wider experimental touch. "Tonight" has a similar attitude like "Why" and works great here with Tasha’s marvelous vocals, but there can be found only one remix from IAN FORD which gives this track a more decent feeling. Overall I would say that this EP lacks a bit from more diversity, also to listen to the same track "Why" in original and remix works 8 times doesn’t make it easier to consume. A concentration on only 3 – 4 of the best remix works and 1 – 2 more unreleased tracks would work better here.

With the signing of the Powernoise act H.I.V.+ from France the polish label Black Flames adds another very different musically project to their rich stable, when we don’t count the Belgium band STIN SCATZOR to this genre. H.I.V.+ is an industrial legend to life time, a solo effort done by Pedro Penas y Robles, originally born in Spain. Fans and friends of the Powernoise genre know this project already very well through three own full length CD’s and several collaboration efforts in this scene. What you get here tells the title of this new CD and also the cover art with a bloody air very well – almost all kinds and styles of harsh, distorted, rhythmic, electronic Powernoise. Already after the first listening you can easily realize the strong effort to avoid the too much typically flaws like the pure monotonous redundancy this kind of music often offers. Pedro has produced an album filled with own tracks as well as some remix works to give his audience a wide view into several kinds of his style. We can hear some attractive Dark Electro cuts like "Illegal Tanz (Extended Club-x) " and "Havoc 2027 (Electro Dark Mix)", both manipulated by BAK XIII, as well as harsh noise tracks like "Testament" or "Feedback 1968" which can also set the dancefloors under fire. Mixing to this some Ambient and atmospheric tracks like "Broken Childhood" gives the whole album a pretty diversity feeling. Not to forget the stomping tribute to NITZER EBB named "Body Electric" which could also find its way into the clubs. This "Rotten Beat Manifesto" can easily satisfy the listeners of both music genres, Powernoise and Dark Electro and I can only recommend to give it a try!

Uuhmm – what evil we are... Well, we have 1997 and Rudy R alias :WUMPSCUT: has just released his long awaited "Embryodead" full-length CD, a masterpiece for the history books of hard Electro/EBM/Industrial music. And here are five musicians collected under the name THE RETROSIC, also hailing from Germany, who have spent too much time with hearing this mentioned masterpiece. So we have here the biggest flaw of this production – to copying their unreachable idol without any sense, without any own idea or musically identity, and most of it – 7 years too late! Really true, I haven’t heard in the more than 15 years I am listening to this music genre any other band which can be called that easy as copycats. There is a big hype behind this act, also Metropolis Records did license this CD for the release in North America. After listening to this album five times I must really ask why? On their danceable tracks like "The Storm", "Maneater" (listen to this stupid German voice samples – wow, we are so eeeeevil!!!), "New World Order", "Total War" and "Antichrist" (ooh, the names of this track list is a big hint... we are sooo damned eeeeevil!!!) they present us their dancefloor 4/4-floor stompers along the mentioned :W: lines but – and this is what makes the biggest difference to :W: - without any edge or remarkable ground. Only listening to this stuff bores me and if you have heard one of this track, you know them all. If you are familiar with this kind of Electro/Industrial music you can check this out without hesitation. Also the cover art is well done, but also nothing what we haven’t seen before. Guys, take your equipment and try to explore new sounds, create something that doesn’t sound like the one and only track you have already composed in the 4 years on your previous releases. There is nothing wrong to be angry or evil, but bring it in a line with an own identity.

Future Pop is still able to find its audience it seems and I think no other band (one big exception: A23) out from this music genre could receive so much positive feedback than this band from Italy. This belongs on their successful debut CD "Forgive(n)" out earlier this year, and so they are now back with an remix EP featuring several different mixes and versions of two of the best tracks from "Forgive(n)", "Das Licht" and "Wet Dream". The names list of the remixers who put their hands on the XP8 stuff features both, well known and also new names. T3CHN0PH0B1A, SYRIAN, BLANK, and EPSILON MINUS do all an excellent job here, but it can’t convince me too much, because all of these mentioned acts are playing almost in the same style, close to that XP8 stuff, so that they can’t offer any interesting new. Outstanding are the remix works of DELOBBO (nice, very Ambient-styled sounds) and VIRTUAL EMBRACE (harsher sequences, some noisy Indus patterns – easy done, but damned effective!), who are also responsible for the final production and mastering of this EP in their own Mao Music Productions studio in Berlin. Adding to this the two new created versions from "Das Licht (Dunkel Version)" and "Wet Dream (Closer2Home)" plus a new and previous unreleased track "Your Heat" by XP8 themselves, all in their known style. The whole EP is convincing enough to lead the public again to the dancefloors but only average when you look for something new.

After their excellent debut CD "Innuendo" (re-released as "Under the Sky" DCD in Europe by Dependent) this mysterious project hailing from Sweden releases their second full-length "Imago" accomplished with their pre-released MCD "Master". INTERLACE are playing globally Dark Techno/Electro but far away from acts like the too high praised SUICIDE COMMANDO/WUMPSCUT clones who repeat themselves over and over again. I would not say that INTERLACE do really create here something new at all but they are strong devoted in their style. It is nice to hear after their successful debut that they do not change their style in a case of a more club-friendly sound. INTERLACE are still experimental, dark, charismatic, but also able to create calm and melodic pieces. The so-called PUPPYan influence factor is rich included and I hear a stronger progression especially for harsher sounding vocals on the more danceable tracks like "Master", "Conformity" or "Elohim". On the dark melodic side we have here tracks like "Crystalline Hush" or "Track Two" which give the listener some deep atmospheric layers and also the vocals are undistorted and calm down integrated. The first three mentioned tracks can easily fill some dancefloors but nevertheless this CD is not designed to do so. One surprise can be found here with the track "Candle Burns Blue" which has included next to clear vocals some acoustic elements like some real bass and guitar sounds - not that metal stuff, more played in a classic style. The music is alive through its strong efforts in complex experimentally rhythm patterns and its cold melodic influences. This stuff creeps in your brain and you can always find something new and not heard before elements. Marvelous - a must-have!