One of the most difficultly reachable goal of a plenty of ebm-gothic and electro dark bands consists mainly not only in finding a personal style, but keep on developing it without appearing banal and repetitive and carefully avoiding clichés and boring imitations. That's the goal Life Cried, the electro act led by the American musician Chris Reject (what a guessed nickname for such an artistic identity!), seems to have been reached in spite of the apparent stasis of the genre and that's maybe the reason they're not so prolific as other bands crossing the same musical fields: Banished Psalms is just their second full length album issued on the renowned German label Noitekk added to their discography even if the band's active since 1999 as it was necessary some ears to refine their sound which looks quite recognizable nowadays even if some tracks remind repertoires belonging to acknowledged mile stones and new levers of the scene such as Combichrist, Hocico, Dawn Of Ashes or Psyclon Nine.

The spellbound play of these banished psalms begin with a catching seraphic chorus and a tonal fragmentation on pianos introducing on the desperate self-tribulation of Another Sacrifice, which seems to narrate the psychological drama of an evil person divided between consciousness of guilt and the impossibility to avoid evil. Some chunky metallic screams and a bulldozing snare and bass-drum sequenced march of Bloodstained looks more accessible than similar electro-dark movements by other bands, while you'll easily appreciate the controversial between the harsh "rotulation" of kicks as well as the dirty percussive sets and the lull traced by piano and atmospheric sounds on the lush Dressed In Filth as well as the well-crafted hybrid of traditional Industrial style and brutal metal splinters exhibited in Bound In Hate, a track featuring the appearance of Nero Bellum (Psyclon Nine) on the keyboards (you'll get aware about the fact you should learn the art of refusing from Mr Reject when you're going to listen the scratchy guttural way he uses to sing "Hey, is this what you want from me? Oh that isn't enough, now bleed nut I said no, but I said No, this isn't what I want.."... really freezing and persuasive!!!). The evocative piano pieces Alone with realistic and dramatic samples of a weeping woman looks like a sort of prelude for the smashing fury of Preacher, whose infernal aura spitting fire and violence from a metallic 4/4 techno groove perfectly fits the ferocious and conscious '“stricken tormented words of the song reaching the peak when the shouting screams of the singer sing "we are crawling in ruins/ripped up inside/I've seen me insane/I felt my head fall/it took me to bleed"... words which look copied from a page of an imaginary notebook describing a fatal but temporary irritation. It seems the singer abandons its ferocious mood in the more melodic More To Tarnish, even if the lyrics oozes with desires of revenge and destructive purposes ("I used to hate myself for what I have done/Now I save myself from what went wrong/I destroy everything that comes my way"). Procession, Rigor Mortis stands as another prelude of the hard-hitting 5-minutes long Solemn, while Forbidden walks on the same path of the mentioned moods standing like an execration of the damages caused by despair and blind fury deriving from a blinded reason ("you fight the disease but you're causing the war/you fight the disease but you're causing more" are praiseful and prophetic words!). The enchanting and more experimental moody Derelict ends an interesting album which is going to disclose something deeply embedded in your memory!

A COMPILATION 2 is a budget double compilation where you can find 28 bands of the Black Rain, NoiTekk, Ars Musica Diffundere and Funk Welten rosters. The first CD is basically focused on the first two labels and it gathers the industrial e.b.m.sound of bands like Die Sektor Life Cried, Psyclon Nine, Iwr, Cyborg Attack, Distorted Memory, Tyske Ludder (a track from their come back album), Feindflug, Dawn Of Ashes, Supreme Court, Fgfc820, Vigilante, Tactical Sekt and Violent Entity. Their tracks are all taken from previously released albums and with these you can do yourself an opinion about the sound of those two labels (and if you love classic or industrial e.b.m. I suggest to check them). The second CD has different kind of sounds and gathers the ambient, electronic, goth and medieval bands of Black Rain, Ars Musica Diffundere and Funk Welten. In this case it's more difficult to find a balanced tracklist but it seems that the labels guys find a way to make it work. At the beginning you can find the orchestral goth of Novalis Deux, the goth of Rise And Fall Of A Decade (a track coming from the forthcoming re-release of "You or Sidney"), the ambient medieval atmospheres of Predella Avant, the ambient ethereal sound of Narsilion (with a track from their forthcoming album "Namarie"), Reliquary, Brillig (with a track from their next album "Mirror on the wall" which is also on their single I reviewed a week ago), Dandelion Wine, the theatrical distorted goth music of Killing Ophelia, the industrial metal of Jesus And The Gurus, the folk of Kutna Hora, the good electro medieval e.b.m. of Lamia, the ambient industrialism of Flint Glass, the really good electro ambient of Oil 10, and Amateur God. A good compilation that you can have for 5 euros plus postage directly from the label's shop page. A real bargain!

I know we had already a review on this current effort of this in between becoming very famous and recognized act (see also an interview with front man Ner0 somewhere here on our site...), which was rather concentrated to argue on the kind and sound of Ner0’s voice. Of course, also on this new release his vocals are sounding still like a raging Chucky, the killer puppet. But can this be the point of discussion? I somehow think, that especially this style of vocals has done a lot to make this band that recognizable and at least successful – it’s a matter of taste of course. But also musically a lot has changed compared to the predecessor "INRI", maybe the most successful album ever sold through their US label Metropolis Records. What could be called on "INRI" a first tendency to create a rather different sound than the once proclaimed Hellektro formula, finds here a continuation and a closer tendency to some Black/Death Metal sounds. This doesn’t only belong to the fact, that they now have added some more raging guitar riffs on the track "Scar Of The Deceiver" and "Crwn The Frnicatr", also the kind of arrangements and the rotating programming of the bass kicks (rather like an angry instrument...) tends more and more into this alternative kind. With some few exceptions ("Flesh Harvest", "Visceral Holocaust"), I really think that PSYCLON NINE will get problems to storm the dancefloors in comparison to the still growing army of Hellektro purist acts. It’s no longer a must to bring it all into a 4/4-on-the-floor mayhem, the tracks rather tend to integrate a chaotic, at times Punk-like attitude. The Electro/EBM purists need to be a bit more open-minded – difficult for Europe and the NoiTekk supporters – but I see the victory train in the USA, now completed with a long tour. "Crwn..." got mastered by Da5id Din (INFORMÄTIK) – I guess to work on this aggressive and infernal-like album was also a new experience for him...

The debut of this trio hailing from San Francisco, CA, "Divine Infect" has gathered a lot of success and recognition, more than band and label could expect. The reactions were that fine that the US label Metropolis Records finally decided to make a license commitment with the German label Noitekk to release this new CD "INRI" under own flag as an Metropolis artist. Congratulations to this. Well, the band has worked on a new release and here it is. The look on the cover lets you already realize that you hold a kind of a conceptual album in your hands. A naked "female" Jesus Christ with the nails of the crucifixion pinned through her arms could cause trouble with several pseudo-catholic communities which are richly present in the USA. "INRI" takes up the essential questions of the bible and/or the Christian belief and the band reinterprets it new in their very own style. Musically the band seems to make a development since their debut which was based pretty much into the Terror-EBM style. The elements are still rich present here and also the vocals (are they high pitched?) haven’t lost any form of aggression, they are sounding a bit like the ugly neighborhood boy and need some rotations to find acceptance. PSYCLON NINE could fill in some more melodic synth layers which have won more and more meaning, and also here and there some guitar riffs to thicken the bass lines. "The Feeding" is finally the most guitar-driven track here and I am sure the short-hair Electro purists will get toothache by listening to this! But calm down, here is enough energetic Electro-infiltrated stuff to blow out your mind. My favorites can be found with the tracks which feature the most remarkable melodic content like "Lamb of God", "Harlot" or "Nothing Left". Mass movements on the dark club floors are guarantied with "Faith : Disease" or "You Know What You Are". Finally I understand the enthusiasm at the Metropolis base, this act with this quality release is a must-have!

A more than 50 minutes long EP considered to be the appetizer for the forthcoming new full length CD "Standard Issue" by DISMANTLED should be easily reason enough to get purchased. And this EP spins over to be a perfect bridge from the past "Post-Nuclear" by presenting a few remix works of the most remarkable track "The Swarm" done by big names like :WUMPSCUT: or HAUJOBB up to some new tracks. So were also my thoughts at the beginning and my expectations were big. Finally and overall too big - and after listening this new release I am rather disappointed. I know that DISMANTLED did experience a wider musically evolution with the release of "Post-Nuclear" for sure – but this EP has nothing of the old and magical moments this band was able to produce with their self-titled debut CD. Where are all the sick atmospheric layers, where are the terrific samples and where are some marvelous vocals as well? Whoever has advised Gary Zon to "sing" without the FX machinery? Sorry to say it, but it sounds a bit that it would be better for Gary to cure at first his bad cold...
The music finally – and so to come back to the main flaw here – lacks a lot from inspiration. All what I am missing here has changed to a lighter sound and yes – it drowns from times up to danceable Futurepop music ("The Swarm (Easy to Swallow-Version)"). Also the funny cover version of Paula Abduls "Straight Up" can’t be taken too seriously for sure. Good moments are sparse filled in here, the new instrumental track "The Blind" awakes a bit some remembrances how it was and how it could be. And their new Metropolis label mates of PSYCLON NINE did their best to fill in diversity through including thick synth layers to the title track "Breed to Death" and finally the :WUMPSCUT: remix of "The Swarm" gets my respect for the handling with different tempo changes in the track. The rest dwells in uninspiring average and I keep my fingers crossed that Gary will remember his talent for his upcoming full length CD.