| Artist |
| En Esch and Mona Mur |
| Title |
| 180 Tage-The Fine Art Of Beauty And Violence |
| Format/Cat |
| CD PALE 032 CD |
| Label |
| Pale Music |
| Style |
| Progressive Industrial Rock |
| Date of review |
| March 2009 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 9/10 |
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Not being familiar with any of Mona Mur's output & only having a very slighty aquaintance with any of En Esch's other bands (KMFDM, Pigface, Slick Idiot, etc.) I was able to approach this intriguing collaborative album with an open mind. Mona Mur's musical resume stretches back to the early 80s & this latest batch shows she's still a progressive & forward-thinking artist. It's not hard to see why En Esch is also such a well-respected musical force as his constantly inventive musical mind turns this into a unique industrial rock experience with electro shadings that rewards deep & repeated listenings & is constantly springing surprises with its power & vision. As such it's the perfect foil for Mona Mur's voice, which manages to be simultaneously tragic & grandiose, medieval & punky & gritty & languid, all topped off with a chanteuse-like quality that breathes emotion into every single note; fans of Siouxsie, Lydia Lunch, Nico & even Marianne Faithfull are sure to recognise a kindred spirit at work here, in fact, if it weren't for the totally modern outlook it's not hard to imagine tracks such as 'Snake' & 'Mon Amour' being sung in a smokey Parisian club back in the 30s & this, no doubt, contributes towards them being two of the album's most outstanding tracks! In such a fertile musical atmosphere, the Kurt Weil & Berthold Brecht-composed songs 'Surabaya Johnny' & 'Der Song Von Mondelay' fit in perfectly, although the languid mood pf the former, which, at 8 minutes' duration is really given the chance to shine, is contrasted very sharply by the pacey latter track which, with its reduced duration, comes across like a short, sharp fireball of frantic energy. Elsewhere, tracks such as 'Eintagsflug' with its scything guitars & the almost relentless feel of 'The Thin Red Line' as well as the brooding intensity of 'Snake' all come closer to the KMFDM sound although it never wimps out or panders to commercial mediocrity or takes the easy way out with the added feeling of depth that graces '120 Tage' where the superb production adds a kind of faded grandeur to an already epic track, as if it were recorded in a disused but formerly beautiful theatre. All in all, this is without doubt one of the most refreshing & invigorating releases I've heard in a long time while the constant excellence makes it one of the most compelling, too, from two artists who certainly have a lot to offer to the adventurous listener.
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