We Have A Commentary: Test Dept., “The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom”

I Die : You Die -

Test Dept - The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom

On this month’s commentary we look at a nearly 40 year old classic which feels as though it could have been released in response to the world at large today: Test Dept.’s The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom. In addition to the record’s searing indictment of the intertwining of capitalism and fascism at the expense of the working class, it marks a turning point for the band, with their classic industrial percussive sound now being tempered with an increased focus on sampling and programming, pointing the way forward for post-industrial music. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

The post We Have A Commentary: Test Dept., “The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Observer: LIMINID & Covert Forces

I Die : You Die -

LIMINID - Collapsed Wave Function
LIMINID
Collapsed Wave Function
self-released
The current project of Morgan Mayer, previously working in a more electro-industrial guise as INEXORA, LIMINID brings a decidedly cinematic approach to dark ambient, doom jazz, and downtempo sounds on its latest EP. Ethereal whispers weave through “Weeping Willow” over ruminating bass, while half-time breaks clatter over echoing orchestral stabs on “The Ghost It’s In The…” Certainly some of Mayer’s long-standing interests in Vancouver industrial can still be ferreted out on Collapsed Wave Function, but despite its sharp drum programming the languid, dreamy pace of “I Like The Dark” is much more Doubting Thomas than Puppy. For all of its measured pacing there’s a real sense of drama throughout these five tracks; like a properly executed film score, Collapsed Wave Function knows when to erupt into kinetic noise and motion and when to recline and descend into deep, murky depths.
Collapsed Wave Function by LIMINID


Covert Forces
self-titled
self-released
There’s very little information out there regarding lo-fi British Columbia-based industrial/EBM project Covert Forces. In fact, the only real information that accompanies the self-titled 5 track EP on Bandcamp is a list of influences, handily reflected in the music itself. Opener “Listen and Obey” is an atmospheric track that leverages a simple bassline and busy cymbals to move it forward, with atmospherics provided by its samples and pads; the trick being that the whole track is dipped in grime and smashed with cassette style compression, with obscures and renders it queasy in equal measure. “Browbeat” (and in fact the rest of the release) is just as opaque, although it’s bassline and cracking snare emerge more audibly from the fog in contrast to the unintelligible vocals and are reduced to pure desperation under layers of reverb and delay. Finding the songs in the seemingly deliberate fog of the mix is fairly difficult, although it does have the effect of making it all feel pretty ominous; the bass and grinding synthwork of “Flesh Covered Machinery” and crushed together and blasted out at the listener, forgoing the convenience of modern recording for undiluted menace and disquieting uncertainty.
COVERT FORCES by Covert Forces

The post Observer: LIMINID & Covert Forces appeared first on I Die: You Die.

We Have A Technical 551: An Oubliette Of Electronics

I Die : You Die -

Clipping

We’re reaching just across some borders this week, talking about a pair of records which abut upon the industrial and goth worlds but aren’t entirely part and parcel of them. First up is the latest and very cyperpunk-themed record from the industrial-tinged hip-hop trio Clipping. Next, we’re talking about Chicago experimentalist Circuit Des Yeux’s new dark art rock opus, which lifts from the same ur-sources as goth. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

The post We Have A Technical 551: An Oubliette Of Electronics appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Devours, “Sports Car Era”

I Die : You Die -

Devours - Sports Car Era

Devours
Sports Car Era
Surviving The Game

Now five LPs into the game, both the musical style Jeff Cancade has been plying as Devours as well as his recurring themes and lyrical poignancy have become familiar to those who’ve been tracking the manically omnivorous electro-pop project. New record Sports Car Era is Devours through and through; any fragment of its chiptune bleeps or a single one of its biting quips is sure to bear Cancade’s stamp. While Sports Car Era doesn’t reinvent or revolutionize Devours’ remit, it does recapitulate many of the successes of its precedents in a strongly distilled, hooky, and at times downright aggressive form.

All the hallmarks of classic Devours material make their presence felt within the first couple of Sports Car Era‘s tracks: chopped up throwback rave pastiche, caffeinated hyperpop, and breathy ethereal chimes. But pay attention to their arrangement and delivery and you’ll notice more abrupt gear shifts and on-a-dime drops, not to mention a subtle but constant feeling of rhythmic pressure and intensity, even when Cancade’s still painting in brighter pastels. The descending, sing-song lilt of the chorus of “Swordswallower” belies just how driving and dark the verses are. “Quite Possessed” feels equally muscular and menacing. Even on an ostensibly softer song like the fragile “November”, there’s a stripped-down and dialed in focus on the pulsing bass, part Jan Hammer, part Berlin.

The social themes taken up in Homecoming Queen crop up again – the title cut laments being “squeezed out of the city and priced out of existence” – as well as the darkly confessional break-up/kiss off tracks Cancade’s become known for. Sometimes it’s pure poison pen vitriol, but there’s often a melancholy streak running through those sorts of tunes, either pining for a romance more idyllic than the stumbling and awkward failings of reality, as on the incredibly catchy “Loudmouth”, or in touching upon the complexities of beauty standards and expectations regarding the performance of gender in dating on “XY” (“I catch myself every time I start to deepen my voice during sex”).

This isn’t to say that Sports Car Era feels especially dark or harrowing throughout – we’re still talking about someone capable of singing “I promised you once I would never write / About our failed relationship, baby I lied” with wit and verve on a track called “Canada’s Next Top Fat Otter”. But Cancade’s charm and humour’s always been rooted in an unyielding honesty in his songwriting, no matter how artful. When the title track closes with the refrain “Somedays I just wanna help you burn it down”, there’s no artifice or poise, just raw disillusionment. Recommended.

Buy it.

Sports Car Era by Devours

The post Devours, “Sports Car Era” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Pages

Subscribe to Gothic BC aggregator