This Swiss band influenced everyone from David Bowie in his industrial days to Faith No More. Since 1987, their sound has been at the very least industrial adjacent, and they have always been ahead of their time. So if you hear a song like "Systemized' and think it sounds like Nine Inch Nails, the truth is Nine Inch Nails sounds like them. Perhaps this album is not as cinematic as some of their mid-period work it does not sound like they are stuck in the 90s, nor does it sound like they are wrestling for relevancy. Franz Treichler might not be bellowing it out like he once did, but his voice has held up well. When things build up a bit on "Blue Me Away," he gets the job done.
This album also finds them still employing the funk elements that marked previous work are still present even amid the dystopian throb."Hey Amour" finds the vocals ebbing into the shifting dynamics, as the tension simmers for release. It's on the more electronic pulse or "Blackwater" that I hear the Killing Joke influence on these guys. It builds into more of a groove that creates something smoother than what you expect from industrial music, not that these guys have ever been devoted to one style. The general drone of the song sets up the dynamic shift.
As someone who has been a fan of these guys since the 90s, it's easy to take a granted the experimental arrangements and how they blend electronic atmosphere with more organic rock crunch. I can't imagine what someone who is hearing this for the first time might be thinking when things begin to get weird. They get into almost progressive territory with the way "Tu En Ami Du Temps" shifts around from the punchy percussion. "Interidal" is pretty trippy, while it vibes into a more trance-inducing tapestry of sound. It might be one of my favorite moments from this album.
They continue to ebb and flow from the electronic grooves they are known for into more dynamic rock riffage, without sounding dated, as it is clearly something made popular in industrial rock music during its 90s heyday. The vocals are slightly detached at times because they do not have effects on them and are left out to dry in this cyberpunk landscape of sound. But this manages to work. "Shine That Drone" finds it taking on a more hypnotic pulse as they muse on the state of the world more speculatively. The only thing that does not always measure up to their past works is that the vocal approach tends to lean into a hushed chant, which feels more refrained, making the vocals often a layer of narrative rather than the emotional core of the song, but this still manages to be effective, since they are jamming off so many layers of mesmerizing sound. I will give this album a 9.5 and see how it grows on me, but fans of this band continue to get what they want from them.
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