Symphony of Decay |Twilight, 2010|

01. The Boogeyman, 02. Night Stalker, 03. Carnage In The Streets of L.A., 04. Zodiac, 05. Secret Graveyard In The Garden, 06. House of Wüstefeld, 07. The Cauldron of The Human Flesh, 08. Overkill 666, 09. 33 Knife Thrust For A Satanic Crime, 10. My Mother Is A Whore, 11. The Devil Inside, 12. How To Become A Killer With A Granny Dress, 13. Bloody Ice Scream, 14. Symphony of Decay, 15. The Boogeyman Remix (From Skrew), 16. Carnage Remix (From Mushroomhead / Ventana)

It seems that the newest French production of Obszön Geschöpf has been the heaviest music reviewed by Fabryka Magazine so far. Although, I would have to say it surpassed November 17 in a surprising manner which was even shocking to me. Remzi Kelleci and the rest of the Obszön Geschöpf line-up took a step towards black metal music (compared to their previous releases), mixing it with industrial metal this time. The final result sounds rather extreme.

There are sixteen songs on the newest album and the last two songs are remixes. Symphony of Decay begins with an acoustic guitar riff leading into The Boogeyman first, while Remzi's vocals are reminiscent of an old wild man mumbling until the vocals turn into demonic screams. The song is based on vocals mainly, with repetitive guitar riffs accenting either the drums or a drum machine.

Night Stalker sounds like one of those black metal productions where it's rather difficult to recognize what the lead singer screams about. However, it seems music fans have no problem understanding lyrics in such a manner at all, as well as decrypting band name logotypes hidden in thorns, symbols and curlicues. Night Stalker is characterized by a solid tempo and sharp guitar riffs, but the background seems to be a bit empty and I really find myself missing audible bass lines in its production value.

Carnage In The Streets of L.A. Was kept along the lines of similar moods. There's also a colder and more electronic song called Zodiac which doesn't lack a metal vibe thanks to the vocals and guitars. It's one of the most interesting songs on the album to me.

A following short suite called Secret Graveyard In The Garden gives me thoughts of black and white horror movies from the 1930's, with an image of dead body being unburied from a backyard cemetery.

It's quite easy to remember a leitmotiv of House of Wüstefeld, meaning that all those trip-hop samples contrast the content of the song which actually has little in common with this style of music since it is based on heavy guitar riffs, a bit of electronics and growled vocals.

I had deja-vu when I heard the guitar riffs in The Cauldron of The Human Flesh, but I couldn't recall where I'd heard them before or perhaps there were some industrial metal standards used. Obszön Geschöpf added black metal atmospheres to the riffs as well as dynamic tempos, similar to the music of Skrew at best. This is what eventually made the song memorable.

Black metal music also dominates tracks like Overkill 666, Knife Thrust For A Satanic Crime and Bloody Ice Scream. Other than that, My Mother Is A Whore and The Devil Inside present the best of industrial metal, underlining the musical influence of Ministry thanks to the sampling, guitars and general arrangements the songs contain.

When it comes to Symphony of Decay, it was a good choice to make it the title song for the album because it clearly stands out above all the other tracks. Dynamic tempos, guitar riffs cut short and samples coming from some movies build a solidly arranged song structure.

I hope every industrial metal fan knows who Adam Grossman is because his band Skrew has been as important as Ministry for the proper recognition of this genre. However, being used to Adam's heavy riffs (who didn't get stuck with covering and remixing as a few burnt out musicians of the same scene have been doing for years now), you may have a weird feeling listening to the remix he provided for the Symphony of Decay album. The remix brings a drum'n'bass sound in which f.e. or Acumen Nation has been better known for. There's a lot of electronics used as well, but the main motif of the original song was saved.

The other remix was created by Richard Thomas (from Mushroomhead and Ventana) who also used some Breakcore inspirations.

I would recommend this album to the fans of black metal music first; those who get bored listening to the same arrangements and who are looking forward to something fresher, without changing their music orientation that much. I don't listen to black metal music often, although I cannot describe Obszön Geschöpf with any precursors of the new metal genre who uses both black metal and sampling influences because I do not have enough knowledge about that subculture. Time will tell if the fans of black metal are drawn to it.

Secondly, this album should empower industrial metal fans as well as... misogynists ;) Screaming women asking for mercy play such a main role on this album. Beginning from the artwork where the zombies wearing suits eviscerate a bunch of theater divas (deprived of their limbs already!), to some old thriller movie samples used to lace certain songs on the album.

(Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz, 27/10/2010. Proofreading: Scott M. Owens. Must not be used for promotional or commercial purposes. See a Legal Note for the copyrights below)
Erection Body Mutilated (Back From The Dead) |BLC, 2009|

CD 1: 1. My First Piece Of Meat, 2. Ogre Of Montana, 3. Erection Body Mutilated, 4. Bloodfeast, 5. Goresex, 6. Deranged, 7. The Sex Beast, 8. John Wayne Gacy, 9. I'm Freak, 10. The Love Butcher, 11. Urge To Kill, 12. Port Elizabeth Massacre

CD 2: 1. CODS My First Piece Of Meat Bloody & Rare, 2. STERIL Coffin Shop (Mix by EvvilKing), 3. HEIMATAERDE Deranged Skapulier-Remix, 4. CYBER AXIS The Love Butcher Remix, 5. JOACHIM WITT My First Piece Of Meat, 6. VIGILANTE Erection Body Mutilated, 7. OUT OUT Sinister Bleeding (OpenYRMind Mix), 8. FGFC820 Goresex, 9. BOSCH I'm Freak, 10. IKONOKLAST The Sex Beast, 11. SCHATTENSCHLAG The Beast Within, 12. XENTRIFUGE Ogre Of Montana, 13. INERTIA The Love Butcher Meat Final, 14. CYNERGY 67 Port Elizabeth Massacre Remix, 15. TEMPEST & THE DIASPORA Urge To Kill

Obszön Geschöpf is the French band so far associated with the harsh electro and electro-EBM works better than the guitars.
Double album has a total of twenty seven tracks, of which up to fifteen are the remixes, although they are not industrial rock that much, because focused more on the electro beats.

Half of the CD #1 is filled with pumping dynamics mixed with guitar riffs in the style of Ministry and Skrew, with some themes recalling even the game Quake 2, but I found also references to My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult ("Body Mutilated Erection" and "Port Elizabeth Massacre"). Do not miss such kick ass tracks like "John Wayne Gacy," "I'm Freak, Urge to Kill," "The Love Butcher", "Bloodfeast”.
The other part of the CD is kept in EBM atmospheres to hit the dance floors ( "Erection Body Mutilated", "Goresex", "Deranged" and "The Sex Beast").

You’ll see a list of very well-known musicians on the CD #2 who remixed the songs of OG. There is a mix of artists associated with specific music genres such as electro, EBM and industrial, but also quite new names as Bosch, Cynergy 67 and Tempest & The Diaspora, which music contains heavier guitar riffs.

Circus of Dead Squirrels (which once announces they are done with music and offended leaves the scene, then comes back after a short period of time) appeared with their easily recognizable sound in a remix "My First Piece of Meat & Bloody Rare".
Steril played hard beats in "Coffin Shop" and Cyber Axis made a dynamic remix to "The Love Butcher" kept in the electro tunes however with some heavier guitars use.

I associated Joachim Witt mostly with Wolfsheim project and that is where my knowledge (and curiosity) finished. Strangely Witt showed up here on the CD with very interesting ideas, presenting a simple remix ("My first piece of meat") based more or less on a rhythm known from the famous Run DMC vs. Jason Nevins’ "It Is Like That" with an additional content of aggressive electronics. It’s a very cool track for a music party because the repetitive elements work for its popularity the best.

Vigilante came with a typical electro remix "Body Mutilated Erection". Then we can listen to a well known and experienced musician and producer Mark A. Miller with his project OutOut in a remix for "Sinister Bleeding (OpenYRMind Mix)". It’s difficult to recognize his sound solutions used in most of his previous recordings compared to this remix, but the track matches to the rest of remixes on the CD.
Next, FGFC820 with severe, even crude, marching rhythm in “Goresex” so to me too much of EBM and we’d rather go on. Iconoclast, Schattenschlag, Xentrifuge, Inertia are another bands using mainly synthesizers and computers, so nothing really interesting to industrial rock fans.

Bosch is a band that so far I couldn’t understand, because despite the fact that they use guitars in a good manner, they still haven’t decided to abandon harsh-electro sounds. So they continue with both and remixed "I'm Freak” on the CD.

And at the end of the CD we have the two bands, which I came across possible in the same way like OG’s Remzi - through Myspace. The first band is Cynergy 67, which just like Bosch applies balanced levels of guitars and electronics, but still remembers to keep the dynamics of their dance tracks. They made "Port Elizabeth Massacre” remix filled with their typical sound.

Tempest & The Diaspora, a new band from Colorado, currently working on a debut album, made the last remix on this disc - "Urge To Kill". Tempest with the band members focused on guitars and that’s why they got my highest note for the coolest remix on the CD coming along with edgy guitar riffs.

The remixing system amongst the industrial music musicians has been spreading wide in the market for over the last few years but I do not like this approach, especially if it touches both poor remixes and big bands doing nothing new just getting stuck with the remixes or covers. On the other hand, quite unexpected results can be heard with the occasion of the remixes (Joachim Witt’s remix already mentioned above) and determine whether or not the band managed it good, how much own ideas they put to the song and whether the final result recalls the original song. That approach is still popular because allows to shine less known teams as well.

This CD could be directed first to people who like dancing in the electro rhythms, then to fans of remixes and sounds based equally on dynamic beats and metal-sounding guitars.

(Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz. Proofreading: Scott M. Owens. Must not be used for promotional or commercial purposes. See a Legal Note for the copyrights below)

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