| Artist |
| Autofadeh |
| Title |
| Hunt For Glory |
| Format/Cat |
| CD SIGCD002 |
| Label |
| Sigsaly Transmissions |
| Style |
| old-skool EBM |
| Date of review |
| 15th December 2008 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 6.5/10 |
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The red star logo that adorns the cover of this Swedish trio's debut album immediately gives the game away that we're dealing with another band reviving the old-skool EBM sound (& yes, the similarity between their adopted abbreviation of AFD & DAF is intentional!). This is, of course, an area in which their compatriots Spetsnaz have set the standard for others to equal but it took them a bit of time to reach those heights & this is certainly not a bad debut. With 17 tracks (including one hidden piece which is probably quite easy to miss, given that it's hidden within track 20) there's plenty to get your teeth into & from start to finish, Mika, Anders & Jesper (for it is they) pay a direct & unashamed homage to their influences, from the typically minimalistic & repetitive sound, the unintentionally amusing lyrics on the opening 'Fuel Of Fire' ("fear of dark/big dog bark" indeed!) as well as the 242-like mix of vocal styles & the Die Krupps-esque grunts that crop up here & there, not forgetting the repeated mention of bodies on 'Stompers' &, while we're talking of 242, where do you reckon the title 'Bodycount' came from? Throughout, the album sticks to the tried & tested old-skool formula with precious few surprises, the abstract effects & effective melodics that grace 'Shields Of Panzar' being about as adventurous as it gets (not that it's a bad track & the sirens are still a pretty cool effect!). For all that, though, hardcore old skoolers should go a bundle on the punchy 'Hunt For Glory' or the muscular 'One Man' while the lyrics of 'Untouchable' take their inspiration from that other EBM staple, masters & slaves & I'm sure a few will identify with the 'isn't work crap' message of 'Money Trouble', which actually reminds me of Mastertune meaning they're a soundalike of a soundalike, that could be a first! It's fair to say then that originality doesn't really feature on this album's agenda which means that dedicated old skoolers should go a bundle on it just as long as you don't expect anything new or original.
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