Being one of my favorite industrial bands, and perhaps one of the last bastions of real industrial, this band has yet to ever disappoint. I’ve been a fan of the group since "Church Of Acid" came out, and in many ways the sound just gets better. You may have heard that Disease Factory, the head of the group, recently kicked all drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. in exchange for raw food diets, exercising, and all that good stuff (I ended up doing the same thing years back, minus the raw food diet and getting rid of alcohol completely, which is rare as is around here. All the drugs and all that get boring as hell and are a total waste, you know). You’d think the man has dropped out, mellowed out, and calmed down, right? Well, not true at all, of course, as this man has industrial carved in his bones! The anger is still very much there, though done more darkly and slowly as opposed to past VAC works. Where "Fun With Knives" and "Twisted Thought Generator" were sheer sonic assaults laden with some of the most violent techno overtones on record (as well as Fun With Knives being in my top 20 all time CDs, and one of the most violent CDs ever made), this is more like VAC’s version of "Last Rights" (the Skinny Puppy CD), mixed with Frontline Assembly’s "Caustic Grip". The industrial feel, esp. in the drumming are very much there, like you’re attending one of those shows from when industrial first started, when it was raw, exciting and new. And no more samples where you can guess where they are from, this is laden totally with a lot more obscure samples this time around. Yet another masterpiece in the career of one of industrial’s true rising stars, and someone for the newbies to look up to. Rating: 10

Hell's yeah, it's about time Snog came out with some videos. That quirky little (well, every musicaldirection under the sun is on their resume) group who's caused so much trouble with giants like McDonald's, Nike, and Microsoft have now released a DVD putting some of those controversial ideas into video form. With most underground video collections, however, I always open it with that fear of under-produced schlock. But the videos on this DVD are very well produced, having been done on an actual budget with a good direction suiting the group's anti-corporate escapades. For example, the video for "Hooray!" shows David Thrussell (the Snog mastermind himself) in a retro-Matrix businessman get-up, with scenes of anarchy and propaganda playing in the back. The video actually adds a whole other disturbing feel to the entire song. "Real Estate Man" is by far one of the goofiest and playful songs ever put on CD, with it's Download-on-Ecstacy dance line and incoherent female muttering. With the video, it shows people attempting (the best one can do) to dance to the song in all kinds of strange gestures, with witty slogans like "Put your trust in the promises of others" in the sarcastic guise of a self-help program. Most of the videos are something you'd see off that old MTV show Amp', with the computer-made psychedelics and assorted imagery. This DVD is good (1). For a whole new take on the Snog experience, (2). Tons of good little features, including a short film made with Snog music, interviews (3 of them, including one of how McDonald's tried to outlaw Snog), etc..(3). Just good old fashioned film making, even if you're not hip to Snog at all. Rating: 10

When first getting into goth, through bands like Bauhaus and Joy Division (as most people are introduced into the whole scene who are actually into the scene not for the fashion haha), I grew up mostly on that charming era we know as post-punk, when the goth bands of yore and New Wave started to pop up. It’s hard to define it as far as a sound as opposed to a feeling defined in an era, but there are those who are just simply post-punk rather than any other genre that came around that time. Happy Mondays, Gang Of Four, Joy Division, Killing Joke, Echo And The Bunnymen,etc. All fit into this mold, and often times the "Madchester" sound-tag. Well, what if I were to tell you that classic post-punk sound that was so clamored in jolly Manchester was right in our backyards in America (in Philadelphia of all places, not New York or even Chicago!)? Well, apparently there was, and a damn good addition at that!Mixing elements of Krautrock, slow funk, post punk rhythmic clashes, and plenty of Phillip K. Dickian psychedelia, and you have the wacky mix that is Bunnydrums. This CD is a re-issue of a couple of their old works from all the way from the mid-80's, which is an unheard of move from Metropolis. You may have heard the comparisons to Joy Division and Killing Joke, but that would be a very loose interpretation indeed and kind of misleading. Imagine taking Talking Heads, Echo And The Bunnymen, Captain Beefheart and Big Block 454 and splattering them together and this would be the result. It’s a very interesting combination, and a good history lesson for those like me who haven’t listened to the 80's post punk sound in some time. And all that lovely 80's production as well! My favorite on this one would have to be the opening track, "Smithson", which I have no idea what it’s about really. But it does sound kind of like the aforementioned Joy Division, with a bit of a Krautrock touch. Rating: 9.

Hanzel und Gretyl- Uber Alles takes you into another dimension. All lyrics are sung in German by Vas accompanied by Loopy providing the English. This duo is truely the most original and convincing couple I've seen. First of all, the masses are so conviced that they are from Germany when actually they are from New York. Vas is the lead singer providing the German assault on us. Fire red hair, German militant attire to boot and hard assed in your face lyrics. Singing like Nico on acid with Switchblade Symphonies scratching at the surface, with Loopy sporting something from obtoberfest for a new millenium. Track 1- Overture , we open with operatic vocals joined with dark dirges with holocaust imagery and dictations, timed in beats of uniform choice. Super overpowering sounds backed with heavy guitar singing over and over, Uber Alles. Track 2-third reich from the sun, is the most dancy track on the album. Singing, Revolution repeatly with death marches playing in the background and explosions going off. This track is a true tribute to death. A dance celebration for the souls that are falling one by one. Proceeding on to Track 9- 11:11 sung in a cultlike fashion saying in an apocalyptic way, after the end we still remain as one forever to the stars again. Screaming background vocals with radiation sirens going off as if to say the world will be no more soon. We even have a brief intermission of German classic music box fairy tales, letting us rest up for more of there doctrine.Overall this album is a nuclear war ready to explode all over your dance floor! Hanzel und Gretyl are no fairy tale and deifnately not a figment of your imagination. This album is by far as conceptual as it gets. Vas and Loopy takes us back to the Holocaust and makes it fun this time around.-4 stars! Look for my interview with soon.

VK Doom- VK Doom is the most diverse album I have heard in a long time. Viktor is the brains behind this industrial project. A plethora of diversions for the soul. Track 4- Dr. Doomed starts out with operatic vocals overlapped by intense hard lyrics saying, what will you do when they come for you, with revelation references spewing out at you. Industiral vocals mixed with horror samples reminscent of old Skinny Puppy. Track 7- Animals has a little of early 80's vocals, tongue in cheek and moving with style and grace. Ongoing signals and sounds dancing in your head, programmed to rise the dead. The rest of the album is full of virtual soundscape imagery of taking over barren lands and filling them with substance. This band is full of surprizes, not one track sounds the same leaving you guess what will come next. There even is a little of acoustic guitar thrown in there for measure. VK Doom is here to stay and will stay till the end of time. 4-stars No website yet, contact Viktor at (630) 964-5446 cell-(773) 575-1542