this cd makes me kind of proud to be from Philadelphia/New Jersey. we have like...almost NO industrial scene...with the exception of Shock Therapy on friday nights and Nocturne (::yawn::) of Weds. nights. Yet Carfax Abbey continues to thrive. They recently opened up for Slick Idiot (it should be the other way around ;) ) , and have another show later this month...

i recently got my hands on a copy of their second release...i'm assuming it's self-titled, being that there is nothing but the band name, and old picture of some English family, and their lame logo on the front. (i still can't figure out what the hell it's supposed to be...) needless to say, it rocks. big time. the opening song, "Revelation", seemed goofy at first but quickly grows on you. The next strongest song on here has to be "Victims", although some of the lyrics get kinda lame. still though, one can hardly blame the band because the music more than makes up for it. and make up for it, it does. The fact that it sounded like there were TWO hidden songs is awesome in the fact that not many bands even put one hidden song on their cds anymore...nonetheless two. I suggest e-mailing the band and buying this cd, who knows? one day they could be the next big thing...

one suggestion though...while the samples are cool...they have more effect if you don't sample as much. and...if you're going to sample a Crow movie...it should be the third one...

it's hard to give an honest review of Skinny Puppy. on one hand, they were one of the most influential industrial bands today, (along with Throbbing Gristle,KMFDM, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Ministry), spawning countless imitators...on the other, it's my job to point out all imperfections in the music, meaning i have to put aside all my personal love for the music and try to rip into it. well...on Rabies, Skinny Puppy had aid from Al J. from Ministry on guitars and production (i believe...). let me tell you...it is by far the best release in the entire discography that is Skinny Puppy. The first few songs start getting you into the mood, and the BAM. Rabies hit's you with the BEST Skinny Puppy song EVER, "Worlock". then "Rain" comes in, which is less a song, and more a filler track. I never really care for it, though. "Tin Omen" picks things up again with the most intersting intro to a song ever. All in all, an excellent cd that should be in every rivets library.

First off, this album is better than their last release. I've been dreading doing this review because I don't know how I can be nice about some of what I have to say. However, there is something about The Chaos Engine that I have a hard time getting past. It's as if they are trying to be both pop and underground at the same time and thus becoming part of the very media garbage they seem to be against. With statements like "the only thing for sure is that each and every song will have more pop hooks than Britney Spears entire recorded output and yet still pack enough finely honed rage to give your parents nightmares for months" are such contradictions that one can only look at them as being as pretentious as Sigue Sigue Sputnik. With that being said "Me & My Army" really does sound like a pop song with a bit more aggressive electronics and guitars than would be the norm. They combine elements of Industrial, Techno, and Rock with pop-like hooks to create their main song structure. A bizarre combination indeed but one that I don't believe would ever entice true underground music fans. Maybe pop culture fans of bands like Korn, Stained, etc.. but not the industrial crowd. Sadly(?), they won't get the pop crowd either because of the heavy use of electronics. Basically they are a group that tries to be both Punk and Pop at the same time - like P.I.L.
Now, I said this album is better than the last and it is true that it is much easier to listen to but is not the sort of thing that would sit on my preferred listening shelf. However, anything that does not have an industrial-techno cover of the fucking "Barbie Girl" song has to be better than the last album! The bands singer has a voice which reminds me of Howard Jones, of whom I do like, mixed with elements of industrial and other electronic music plus sampled guitar hooks and songs like "Nerve Opera" are very listenable and not bad at all. It's the overall product of the band that grates my nerves. If some of the songs on this album were taken and put somewhere else not associated with the pretentiousness of The Chaos Engine and given another name then it would be a good product to sell and a decent album to listen to and people might actually get into it. Instead the combination and media statement made for promotional purposes on behalf of the project come off as nothing short of cheesy, pretentious, crap!
Maybe it's just me but the band simply needs a new image or they need to boost up the level of cheese and pretentiousness to make it very catty instead. Sigue Sigue Sputnik were at least interesting and they didn't play half as well as The Chaos Engine. This band comes off too much as hypocritical in my book but maybe I'm just not getting the joke somewhere. In order to pull off something like that you better sound damn great! I've tried to find the witty or humourous side to this band and I just can't find it. Maybe it's just a type of humour I don't get or maybe they really are seriously pretentious hypocritical twits!

Der Feuerkreiner are a relatively young duo formed by Federico Flamini (music and voice) and Valentina Castellani (voice). The former has already been active with the symphonic death metal band Lumen Moritur and the solo-projects Kunst Mork (industrial-techno, see review in the archive!) and Commotus Ingenio (dark-ambient), while the latter comes from classical studies in polyphonic singing. This official debut, co-released by Runes and Men and Misty Circles, follows a 4-track promo which, if I'm not wrong, featured some of the songs of this cd. Der Feuerkreiner mostly play dramatic martial symphonies in the vein of Der Blutharsch, The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud and The Day of the Trumpet Call. Tracks 1, 4 and 5 perfectly represent this style, with grand, tragic atmospheres and a feeling of impending doom in the air. Proud and desperate at the same time. Track 3 and 6 are more tranquil, with Valentina's singing hypnotic litanies in a melancholic and austere way that reminded me of some Camerata Mediolanense's works. Track 7 starts with a folkish string sample soon massacred by a storm of looped noises, percussions and siren-like wailings which do create a sense of panic; again, Blutharsch or A Challenge of Honour come to mind. Tracks 2 and 8, on the contrary, are full-on, :Wumpscut:-sounding electro-industrial with amphetaminic beats, harsh loops and fierce filtered vocals; while this style isn't my cup of tea at all, the two tracks are well-done and, most of all, fit well in the work, without breaking the overall atmosphere. Lyrics are possibly one of DF's most original characteristics - they're inspired by Christian Morgenstern's poems, but their German is de-composed into a hypothetical, purely phonetical language. The cd comes in a luxurious horizontal cardboard booklet - looks like a photo album from a hundred years ago... All in all, an excellent release worth several listenings, and it's a pleasure to see a new Italian project with such a strong debut. Interview soon, hopefully.

Harsh dark German symphonic industrial in the vein of Neubauten, Laibach, Wumpscut, Hocico and The Young Gods. Das Ich follow a precarious balance between Industrial and Gothic as well as harmony and chaos. Pounding beats and classical strings meld in rhythm with Stefan Ackerman's gritty vocals. There is much here that would appeal the the Naubauten fan or any fan of German industrial as most of the lyrics are in German and the vocals are of a similar style to Blixa Bargeld on early Einstuerzende pieces. However, the music is much more modern and a bit less experimental as the compositions remind me much of Laibach. It smoothly combines hard industrial rhythms and percussion with classical strings and orchestral styled pieces as well as some heavy Gothic choir and ethereal overtones while utilizing bits of modern EBM to bring it all to the modern ear.