| Artist |
| Derma-Tek |
| Title |
| Corpus Technological |
| Format/Cat |
| CD |
| Label |
| Noitekk |
| Style |
| EBM |
| Date of review |
| 15th March 2008 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 7/10 |
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Derma-Tek are the duo of Joe Cains & Miranda St. Croix (who looks every bit as exotic as she sounds!) & their music is a potentially intriguing mix of atmospheric synths, thumping techno-flavoured beats & trance-like sequences that, thanks to some imaginative use of sound manages, in places, to evoke some pleasingly unpredictable moods, much more so than such acts as Lab 4, for example, who could be said to operate more or less in the same field. There's even a rather happy-sounding piece in 'Rise From The Ashes' which is something of an eyebrow-raiser in itself while some of the motifs that grace 'Lost Cause' could have been equally at home on a future-pop piece! Again, this is an album very much geared to the dancefloor which means that it can start to feel like it's wandering a bit when listened to in one go although when they get it right, as they do during 'Payback' & the excellent duo of 'Mauled' & 'Out Of This Hell', all of which benefit greatly from a more involved & more engrossing melodic presence, then the results can be something pretty special. Similarly, the deep bass chords that open 'Existential' set the scene most effectively for another trance/EBM-flavoured stomper while Chris C of Xentrifuge lends his talents to 'Less Important' & for as soon as the Suicide Commando-like sequence that adds an extra dramatic element & which does so much to make this into another dancefloor-filler kicks in it's not hard to guess what his contribution was! It's actually a most effective contribution as he fills in the gaps on what can otherwise be a slightly minimalist feel in places although there's more than enough here to suggest that, if Derma-Tek can refine their skills still further, then they could yet produce something a little bit special.
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