Hard-Wired EBM Review
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It's a problem that any new band has to deal with in this overcrowded musical market: just how do you get your album to grab people's attention? Well, if you're the glamorous Swedish trio of Joel Nygren, Angelica Kluft & Julia Meller, you not only make it a double album you then put a white cat in a gas mask on the cover & away you go! Actually, this is a very impressive debut album, the music sort of straddling the line where harder synthpop becomes EBM. And they don't mess about either, as 'Iso' gets straight into its stride with a fine blend of hard rhythms, decent melodics & effected female vocals; it has the balls to stand out & promises much, a promise which the album quickly delivers on as yet darker melodics form a backdrop to the robotic vocals of 'Get A Taste', the arrangements of which demonstrate the band have a slightly unpredictable side, you certainly cannot always guess what the track is going to do next (which can only be a good thing, of course!) while 'Prisoner' soon proves to be the album's highlight with its instantly memorable chorus. As the album progresses Joel's vocals, which echo the 'harsh whispered' styles of most EBM bands, come more to the fore on such tracks as the pacey & full-blooded 'Serve The World' & 'Satisfy' while the slower 'Abducted' again marries the varying elements to good effect. Elsewhere 'Fugelsang' brings some of the 90s Swedish synthpop bands to mind while sounding totally up to date while the slightly oriental-flavoured elements that grace 'Xina' prove that they're capable of integrating more thoughtful & varied influences into their music, something they'll hopefully do more often on future releases. No doubt a number of the aforementioned songs could make the grade in the clubs the remix of 'Iso' that closes the first disc is presumably there just to really hammer the point home! The second disc is the usual collection of so-so remixes & a few new tracks which more or less maintain the standard of the album proper with the rather innocuously-titled 'My Freezer' revealing a rather dark underbelly lyric-wise although what made them think 'The Phuckomat' was a good idea is something of a mystery; true, the vocal samples do shed some light on the mystery it's better just to enjoy the track & try to forget what it's called!! Still, these quibbles aside, it's good to hear a new band making their mark with such a strong debut that should ensure 2010 is a memorable year for them. | |||||||||||||||||||
