Being one of my favorite industrial bands, and perhaps one of the last bastions of real industrial, this band has yet to ever disappoint. I’ve been a fan of the group since "Church Of Acid" came out, and in many ways the sound just gets better. You may have heard that Disease Factory, the head of the group, recently kicked all drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. in exchange for raw food diets, exercising, and all that good stuff (I ended up doing the same thing years back, minus the raw food diet and getting rid of alcohol completely, which is rare as is around here. All the drugs and all that get boring as hell and are a total waste, you know). You’d think the man has dropped out, mellowed out, and calmed down, right? Well, not true at all, of course, as this man has industrial carved in his bones! The anger is still very much there, though done more darkly and slowly as opposed to past VAC works. Where "Fun With Knives" and "Twisted Thought Generator" were sheer sonic assaults laden with some of the most violent techno overtones on record (as well as Fun With Knives being in my top 20 all time CDs, and one of the most violent CDs ever made), this is more like VAC’s version of "Last Rights" (the Skinny Puppy CD), mixed with Frontline Assembly’s "Caustic Grip". The industrial feel, esp. in the drumming are very much there, like you’re attending one of those shows from when industrial first started, when it was raw, exciting and new. And no more samples where you can guess where they are from, this is laden totally with a lot more obscure samples this time around. Yet another masterpiece in the career of one of industrial’s true rising stars, and someone for the newbies to look up to. Rating: 10

Being one of my favorite industrial bands, and perhaps one of the last bastions of real industrial, this band has yet to ever disappoint. I’ve been a fan of the group since "Church Of Acid" came out, and in many ways the sound just gets better. You may have heard that Disease Factory, the head of the group, recently kicked all drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. in exchange for raw food diets, exercising, and all that good stuff (I ended up doing the same thing years back, minus the raw food diet and getting rid of alcohol completely, which is rare as is around here. All the drugs and all that get boring as hell and are a total waste, you know). You’d think the man has dropped out, mellowed out, and calmed down, right? Well, not true at all, of course, as this man has industrial carved in his bones! The anger is still very much there, though done more darkly and slowly as opposed to past VAC works. Where "Fun With Knives" and "Twisted Thought Generator" were sheer sonic assaults laden with some of the most violent techno overtones on record (as well as Fun With Knives being in my top 20 all time CDs, and one of the most violent CDs ever made), this is more like VAC’s version of "Last Rights" (the Skinny Puppy CD), mixed with Frontline Assembly’s "Caustic Grip". The industrial feel, esp. in the drumming are very much there, like you’re attending one of those shows from when industrial first started, when it was raw, exciting and new. And no more samples where you can guess where they are from, this is laden totally with a lot more obscure samples this time around. Yet another masterpiece in the career of one of industrial’s true rising stars, and someone for the newbies to look up to. Rating: 10

First of all, not many bands out there stop to recognize fans and do autographs and such. But his band actually went out of their way to send me an autographed picture of the group, so I thank all of the members of the band for the kindness! Anywho, the band’s sound is your basic, tried and true synthpop along the lines of Donovan Tate’s work and in ways like Anything Box’s style of DIY synth work. The only weak spot I could find in the Cd was the male vocals. They have more than enough conviction, but he does need to work on the notes a little bit and gain a little more range in his voice. I think it will come around by the time the next CD comes out. Overall, if you’re into old school synthpop and none of the technofied synthpop that’s out there nowadays, then this may well be your pot of gold. Rating: 9.

A very very welcome revival of the goth rock/electro-goth mix of the old days, coming from the unlikely spot of Guadalajara, Mexico (one of the more popular resort towns there to most people). There are those classic chainsaw guitars ripping out soaring riffs that could even make the metalheads turn and take note, and then at the next turn painting an intricate metallic web with it’s lower C chord textures. The vocals are surprisingly are completely in English, which is quite rare to see in the Mexican music scene, sung by vocals that are rather reminiscent of Italian goth-group Artica, very dry and appropriately sepulchral on top of the tense guitaring and ambient patterns in the back. A little bit of industrial, a little bit of Clan Of Xymox-style keyboarding, that marvelous guitar playing, and the vocals all add up to one band that can stand up there with bands like Clan Of Xymox, Artica, and.......well, not too many others (given that Corpus Delecti are gone and the rather cheesy but good London After Midnight are missing in action), really, in keeping the old school goth rock tradition alive and well. And for those disenchanted with the whole goth thing like I am, the music is refreshingly glam-free and emotional, just like the golden oldies I used to grow up on! And finally another goth band besides Artica that can play guitar, and not another glam goth band just beating out nu metal chords and their sloppy riffs! Some of the material, to actually compare and give you an idea of their sound, is basically somewhere between the late great X Mal Deutchland and post "Creatures" and "Notes From The Underground" era Clan of Xymox, with perhaps a pinch of circa "Sin Pecado" Moonspell. Also, as a side note, for those who have not gotten to check out Mexico’s incredible goth and industrial scene (I don’t know about it’s synthpop scene. Mexican death metal is utterly brutal though I will say that!), definitely give it a peek, it’s soon going to be THE place to go for this type of music. The goth and industrial music coming from that region is so raw, so honest and a new twist of sincerity is in it, it revolutionizes the way one can think of music in general, both as a matter of expression and as a matter of social revolt and pride. With Hocico and Cenobita spearheading the industrial side of Mexico with other fine bands like Deus Es Machina (Machine God), Isenngard spearheads the movement with almost no other peer but Fernando Viana (another amazing Mexican goth artist). No makeup and posing in this group, just sheer emotional goth-rock that seems like it could well be a necessity for them once you hear the amount of emotion involved on this CD. This is goth rock the way bands like Joy Division intended it to be: as a necessary catharsis for one’s self, not posturing. Every last note sung and played on this CD is meticulously planned and executed, with a bit of classical principle behind this already massively complex and elaborate mix. Favorites on this CD are very hard to pick, but to choose a couple I choose "A Lady’s Craft" and "Eclipse". But overall, you can listen to this CD all the way through and still pick up something new on your next playing of it, like a piece of the atmosphere you didn’t catch before in the keyboards. Hopefully next time around they will whip out some of those Spanish vocals, which would sound perfect on this CD. Highly recommended, and all this from an unsigned band (to the labels: best start getting to it before you lose this one!)! Rating: 10 all the way.

Kind of off the beaten path for Metropolis, which is more into electronic, goth and industrial tracks, this is their first soundtrack release, done by Dave Thrussell of Snog. To me, given I’m not really into soundtrack type CDs at all unless I’ve seen the film, this one seems to paint out the film for you. If not paint out a whole film for you in your mind. It’s very laid back, with a sort of jazz and lounge principle, reminding me often times of Henry Mancini’s famous "Pink Panther" soundtrack (though nothing like the "Peter Gun" music, mind you), more than anything Snog or Black Lung ever did (which is much more electronic based, respectively). It’s a pretty good CD for simply relaxing to, for those who haven’t seen the film or who have seen it and perhaps not liked it (I haven’t seen it myself, so it’s good, mellow music to me). Rating: 9.