Very different from "Spite" (the album released at the same time) THE SEDUCTION OF MADNESS is a MCD which explore mental insanity bringing to audience three untitled suites which ends one into the other. Into twenty three minutes of obsessive orchestral sounds with percussions in evidence, Sophia creates a beautiful and visionary trip into the labyrinths of insanity. Like a soundtrack the work has got calm and violent moments which both create very well a sensation of "quiet terror", something inevitable which step after step is coming to catch you. Inspired by the Goya's painting titled "Saturn Devouring His Son" and by Pettersson's interests into psychology (in fact the CD has the same title of a Edward M. Podvoll's book which has got as second title "Revolutionary insights into the world of psychosis and a compassionate approach to a recovery at home") THE SEDUCTION OF MADNESS will have a deep impact in all the audience, even if you aren't an industrial music lover. Three tracks perfect for an emotional voyage into your deepest and hidden feelings.

This release by the independent Sector19 features industrial musicians from the US, UK, Italy, Germany, Belgium and France. It opens with a track from the French group Jailbird which sounds amazingly like The Young Gods. The second track is by the industrial rap group SMP which have gained quite a bit of notoriety on the Net of late and have had music featured in various public spots as well. Projeria is more of a hard driving beat heavy industrial pounding with a bit of Noise influence. Aiboforcen has been featured on many indie comps lately and it's easy to see why. They combine elements of Industrial, Synthpop and EBM into a sort of futuristic pop sound. Six Past Seven combines some heavy Noise influences with Industrial throb and repition. Mouth of Indifference combines Industrial with a sort of trip-hop and ambient feel. Chaos Engine, a mainstay of Wasp Factory Recordings, is an Industrial rock group which sometimes reminds me of Sex Gang Children with their dark and nearly punk elements. System 81 creates a sort of cyber-noise ambient texture. Arkam Asylum, also on Wasp Factory, is also industrial rock but having more of a sound that reflects what might happen if you combined Alien Sex Fiend with Marilyn Manson. Mneumonic takes into a more Front Line Assembly like territory with "Human Fragments" which combines elements of the cyber sound with drum-n-bass and other elements known to the FLA sound like the dark whispery vocals. Tin.RP is ambient Noise. Mind Flux is metal industrial with grovelly vocals and caustic overtones. St. John's Eve is also a Noise track with lots of distorted vocals and an overall mellow and very dark tone. Monoid is the side project of Martin Steinebach also known for his industrial ritual project Conscientia Peccati. However, Monoid deals more with the hard beat and distortion aspects of Industrial music but also contains some tonal and atmospheric elements. The song by AutoCad is very digitalia and Kraftwerkian in it's overall structure. Reminds me somewhat of Trans Europe Express for some reason. Silencer is anything but, it is Noise - loud and chaotic. This second track by Jailbird is very different from the first and is more Gothic in general overtone.

Sophia is, with Arcana, one of Peter Pettersson's projects and while the second one is more concentrated on classical atmospheres, Arcana has a "industrial/military" sound structure and I assure you that SPITE is really powerful! The eight tracks of the CD (the seventh, "Stained", and the eight, which is an hidden track, have been recorded live in Bochum on December 2001) have got as main structure powerful percussive sounds along brass or strings and are capable of overloading your nervous system because they are: tense, hypnotic and sick. If you have not idea of what it could sound, try to imagine an evil version of the first Laibach: the ones which were shouting songs like "Brat Moj". As reported on the label presentation: "Evolving the theme of spite certainly spawns anger. Here the rhythmical pounding, a bit more tasty clinical than before, spews forth a scary atmosphere and the oppressive walls of heavy string arrangements fuels the picture of an imaginary, personal hell". Really amazing...

Here is the year's newcomer Dismantled. There's been a lot of talking about American immigrated Russian Gary Zon, and after I first heard of him from TG Mondalf at RhythmUS Network, I interviewed him (please read interview in the appropriate section for more info and background). He's only been doing electronic music for a little over a year and yet after an mp3 demo and a couple of compilations, his powerful blend of electro-industrial music has convinced even the talent scouts at Metropolis. Nine blasting songs where strong bombastic industrial beats are the common ground for atmospheric long-chord layers and jumpy ebm textures and an intricate web of sounds, media samples and bass lines. Filtered and vocoded vocals singing lyrics about life, annihilation, extermination and so forth (including a 9/11 tribute). An outstanding balance between robust rawness and melody. Perfect for all lovers of FLA (primary influence), but also :W: (who he remixed), Velvet Acid Christ, Haujobb, F242. Album will hit the streets on June 4th in US and June 17th in Europe. Look out for his first single "Dystopia" also!

Dave Dando Moore is a guy coming from Whitehill, UK and he's also the founder of a new label called Fleshmadeword. Detritus is his musical project and SENSE/MARTYR gathers his first two MCDs. Musically the eight tracks of the CD deal with industrial, noise treatments, various electronic sounds, orchestral arrangements and rhythmical extravaganzas. The first thing that catched me has been the way Dave treats samples, because there's always something that change into the track's structure, just like as the sound is evolving while the tracks is played and this is very useful to focus listeners' attention. Also the upbeat tempos used are very energetic and along with the use of sounds coming from different sources give to tracks like "Sense" or "Detritus" a dramatic sense, as it was an industrial soundtrack. Visit his website and give Detritus a try, it's worth it!