Industrial music reviews

With songs from Napalm Death, A.C., At The Gates, Vader, Iron Monkey, just to name a few, this 3 disc set is a great addition to any metal head's collection.

"Impetus" is the debut album by the newcomers "Backlash". Backlash make use of smooth female singing that perfectly fits with the open and long-range sound background. The music on "Impetus" is restful and never overpowering. It requires you to close your eyes and to concentrate on the sophisticated interplay of sound-effects and melodies that create a fantastic musical environment. The singing is always kept discreetly in the foreground and is only a companion to the synthetic melodies.
I prefer the song "Blind" as it combines melancholic singing with a percussive beat that makes this sound suitable for the dancefloor. I also like the song "Impetus" which is made of "1-Bit" sounds we know from early computer games and is accompanied by deadpan singing.
On the whole "Impetus" is a very varied album that demands highbrow listeners who like to relax while diving in a magical sound field.

This is the band that brought the metal into hardcore. "Those who fear tomorrow" was way ahead of it's time, released at a time when hardcore was more punk-influenced. I believe it's much better than their later releases, with none of the "holy terror" stuff that Dwid (the singer) is into now. Anyone into modern metallic hardcore should pick this up to find their roots.

If you are a true fan of heavy music, do yourself a really big favor and get this record. The first two songs are some of the baddest rock-n-roll ever made. I searched for this CD for ten years and when I finally found it, it was EVEN BETTER than I remembered. ROCK OUT!!!

One of the best Attrition compilations ever, taking its title, I assume, from the idea of The Afterlife from Eastern Religion (Buddhist) and the "Realm Of The Hungry Ghosts" (clever and appropriate usage of a title).

From the opening, "Vigil," with its stark, electronic, post-modern edge, you are led "Into The Waves," with its Black Tape... "With My Sorrows" sort of feel (did they get the idea from Attrition for this song?), which are two of the best tracks.

Next is "In Your Hand," with its rapid tempo and murky electronica, is quirky and surreal; next follows "Surge And Run," a langourous song resembling most of those found on the excellent "The Attrition Of Reason," with its fading and surging female voice, Bowe's sing-song voice, melting in, and bizarre electronic effects; the next song, "Marianne's Dream," which seems incongruous at first, but then melts into this slow dream-like song, again, it sounds like something Black Tape... would later use for their "Remnants Of a Deeper Purity," only difference being, that in Attrition's version, surrealism abounds.

Besides the slow, droning, pathos of the song, there are children screaming and...chattering...in the background noise...which makes it seem even more mysterious...then this too fades away, and we're left with that very ominous yet drowing effect and feeling of the drone...for most of the time; "Dreamsleep" follows, with its dark wall of sound, vibrating like broken speakers, with chirping electronica here and there, and a void-like sound, of empty space, which continues to assault its listener, finally breaking into a female voice, which doesn't seem to compliment the austere and surreal music, but nevertheless works out; "The Last Refuge" is next, and sounds like something that could be used for the soundtrack to an Italian horror film, maybe a zombie film by Fulci, replete with a female voice and ominous whispers in the background droning away, against the electronica (here mimicking a cathedral organ, perfect touch); "The beginning of the End" follows -- dark again, refined, Gothic, surreal, resembling the works to be found in the excellent "Smiling At The Hypogonder Club." Along with the strange lyrics, which sounds mad and...well...it's Attrition, what can you say?

Next follows "Questions," which starts out with birds chirping and a slow, piano introduction (resembling the work of Scriabin), with a female voice recounting surreal poetry; next comes the driving "Which Hand," with a slighly angry, or vehement female voice, contrasting against the once again bizarre "horrific" electronic effects, only to meld together in a very tasteful ariatic-like blend, tapering off into a sort of ecstaty of sounds and voices (also angelic background choir), another very excellent song.

Finally, we reach "A Forgotten Dream," with its slow mournful piano, ballad-like intoduction, which continues with more strange effects, like someone blowing into empty bottles, tinny sounds, electronic refuse, glassy notes in the background, very much like a dream deferred, especially as the piano music grows in intensity. The last song "A'dam and E'va" has been featured elsewhere. It has a Gothic feel again, with pipe organ effects and ominous singing and its almost humourous lyrics ("Turning on red lights and swimming in beer fights, dancing on tables, Amsterdamn..."

I love Attrition, and if you like really dark Gothic music, you will too. :)

this album seems to be currently misfiled, so before i say anything i will clarify that this is NOT a skinny puppy album -- it is a various artists compilation and the proper title is "industrial revolution: THIRD EDITION" .. (the first and second editions were very different)

--- this album contains tracks from all of the old-school industrial masters such as throbbing gristle, einst�rzende neubauten, clock dva, psychic tv, laibach and test dept. as well as some more current bands like download, razed in black, die krupps, spahn ranch, project pitchfork and front line assembly .. overall about 2.5 hours of music with each track by a different band and many of the tracks being rare mixes or exclusive to this compilation .. it also comes with a very informative liner booklet containing information about each band, and is a great introduction to a wide variety of industrial elements .. i would recommend this to anyone who is looking for more industrial bands to learn about, as well as those who just want a good convenient compilation of all of the big names in industrial music (circa 1996).

The folks at Cleopatra did a great job of assembling these two dozen bands and songs. The collection is worth its price just for the songs of Einsturzende Neubauten, Skinny Puppy, Brian Eno, Front Line Assembly and Laibach.

Dig It and Mindphaser - "mesmerized by a decade of faith, flowers and remorse" - are two classics of the genre. Give it up for Canada!

In 1996 Cleopatra also put out an Industrial Revolution 2nd Edition video. Apart from the name, that video is different than this cd.

I purchased this cd about 5 years ago. If you could listen a hole into it, I definately did. I'm alittle disappointed to see it is out of print. But if you can get your hands on one I recommend the second disk with Penal Colony. This cd got me thru high school :)

with the driving force of classic punk and hardcore metal fused with the caustic atmosphere of industrial and the fat chest beating beats of hip hop and elctronica,infotainment really is a innovative gem.pitchshifter have progressed and developed in leaps and bounds since their mighty days in the deathcore buisness.infotainment slams and attacks not letting the aural acrobatics stop until the very absolute end of the cd.driving frothy,fuzzy,intoxicating guitars combine with animalistic roars fusing with beat box distorto neo techno flourishes,this is non stop:the lyrics delve deep into social highs and lows difusing the exact moral decay of societys unjust profanities.hip hop beats kicking and punching while every sample and synth line zooms in and out of the chaos landscape that is infotainment post modern punk industrial grind for the mixed frases of the cosmopolitin sledgehammer speech of todays normals.amazing crushing obliterating.so you think you've heard heavy?,you think last nights rave was bouncy?,you think you know the street sass of hip hop?,even the angst that rips at your skull?:INFOTAINMENT is the latter and even more it is a masterpiece so huge,monumental,powerful.this pummels the brain assualts the senses blasts the speackers.the statue of liberty?,the tower of london?, NO JUST INFOTAINMENT. REVIEW BY ASHER LOCKETZ

Im happy to see that they have decided to put the solos that truly shows the bands skill into this new cd split, but they still suck. they suck so bad its not funny. dont get this cd because its actually good, so therefore they suck. and they actually have skill. man, what losers.

First things first. Take a good look at the performers featured on IFS4: CHILLIN IS KILLIN. Noticably absent are the likes of Delta 9, Temper Tantrum, HCM, DJ Jappo, and the surviving members of DOA. With the sole exception of Dummy Plug Conspiracy, this is the first appearance for everyone on an IFS CD compilation. Even producer Lenny Dee is notably quiet, apparently content with seamlessly mixing the tracks together and throwing in an occasional short bridge. What you get on CHILLIN IS KILLIN appears to be the next evolution of hardcore techno a la Industrial Strength - but it's not without growing pains.

This 2-CD collection begins with a "Chillin Side," which largely focuses on the darker, moodier aspects of hardcore and hard trance. If you still don't have a subwoofer, now might be a good time to get one; the kicks sometimes feel like a challenge to your speakers to not disintegrate into powder. The Outside Agency, DJ Demigod, Earthquake, and Tocsin are among the acts represented here, with Perfect Dark supplying an infections techno/metal hybrid with HERE I STAND. By the time you've made it to the "Killin Side," you'll find yourself waist-deep in speedcore and digital hardcore, hurled almost relentlessly at your ears by Tocsin, Dummy Plug Conspiracy, ROG Hardcore Produktionz, and others. But neither side is exclusively "Chillin" or "Killin," as artists such as belladonnakillz and Sunjammer demonstrate with their own contributions to IFS4.

CHILLIN IS KILLIN shows hardcore at a turning point. Euro-style gabber appears to be long gone from IFS4, although speedcore remains an integral part of the mix. The TR-909 sound remains a staple, but there appears to be a new effort to diversify kick textures and patterns to keep the beat from going stale. Performers on IFS4 occasionally cross-pollenate their sound with drum-and-bass, metal, and apparently even relatively obscure acts such as Le Syndicat. The IFS gender barrier is busted as well, with female artist T-Bone joining her bandmates in Tocsin. And many of the performers show themselves willing to push the frontiers of hardcore in terms of tempo, ambience, and overall sound.

The changes, however, are not without a little strain showing. BASSDRUMSZ by CUT.A.KAOS, RIPPER'S DAWN by DJ Demigod, and A MESSAGE FOR CHRISTINA by DJ Torture are fairly tedious; the latter plays like the poor man's YA MUTHA by DOA. Some of the performances are a bit messy, though not quite to the point of near-collapse seen in the Brutal Truth/DJ Freak collaboration on Earache's HELLSPAWN. I get the feeling that IFS4 is looking for its own identity, but it could be that maybe it's already found it and is daring everyone to catch up.

All in all, CHILLIN IS KILLIN is definitely worth checking out. It will be very interesting to see where Lenny Dee takes us next.

Lenny Dee is a genius. I thought nothing could get better than vol.3 but if your want the hardest beats you can find pick this up.