Customer Reviews

Interference

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

the worst thing about this band is the arrogant Marc Heal, who recently said in an interview that he had been the first to blend electronics and guitars (sic): Marc... what about KMFDM, Die Krupps, Front 242, NIN, FLA...? ok, a slight mistake. In fact, this work is quite different from previous ones since a drum'n bass beat dominates most of the songs... guitars are also present but they don't control the songs... I think Heal has improved a lot, and C-Tec works are proofs of this. After the first spontaneous 'It' in which Heal must have broken his vocal chords, there're some good songs, 'Isolation', 'An Airport Bar' or 'The Horsetrader' being maybe the best. They stmes get too long, though, and I can't help thinking Cubanate is sometimes a bit boring... If I were you, i would buy 'Darker' or 'Cut' by C-Tec instead: De Meyer's voice is infinitely better than Heal's, and that makes a change... However, 'Interference' is not a bad album at all, in my opinion their best, I never liked their style.

Having perfect their earlier signature sound with Barbarossa, Cubanate wisely chose to alter their repertoire trading in in their old school techno for hardcore drum'n'bass. Most bands would take two albums or more to perfect a new direction in sound; Heal and Barry perfect it one single bound. The result is an almost seamless venture into aggression, desperation and schizophrenic hatred. The drum machine is kept interesting, churning out beats that are different with each track, so as to not fall into the usual pitfalls of repetitive boredom that drum'n'bass habitually suffers from. The guitars are still very much present, and Marc Heal's abrasive, dripping-with-spite vocals also return intact, with a surprise: they've upped their intellectual level. My sole complaint on the otherwise perfect Barbarossa was the cheesineess of the lyrics("We're the boys in black and blue...meet my friends! We're the musclemen!") This soft spot seems hardened up on Interference, the lyrics taking a more introverted and personal stance; it renders them more compelling, but does not once stand to compromise the unyielding anger and disgust that has (and probably always will be) endemic to Heal's vocal delivery. If anything, he sounds even more ready to tear your throat out on this record than on any before it. The variety of Cubanate's sound is also upped on this disc, it includes the hip-hop influenced track "The Horsetrader", and even an ambient-esque song towards the middle. My sole complaint is track 7, "Other Voices", which, unlike the other songs on the album, really has nothing memorable about it, sounding purely like filler. But that one misstep is not enough to deny Interference a 5-star rating in my book. A must for hardcore techno fans everywhere, undeniably, and as for fans of Cubanate's old sound...they may be alienated, I must admit, but I remind them to keep an open mind and to keep spinning it, because all good music "clicks" eventually, with enough listens.

This was my first trip to the world of Cubanate, and I'm very pleased I made it. Compared to the older fans, I rate this release much higher than their previous ones. If you're into DnB mixed with psychotic, sometimes even melancholic industrial, you won't be disappointed.

OK, so maybe this album is a lil' diferent than what Cubanate fans might have hoped for.. but its one of those albums that needs to be listened to LOUD and under the influence of a strobe-lit dance floor. Warning: do not attempt to dance to this unless you know it well... the speeds tend to change almost randomly. A none-too-small amount of aggression is required as you scream along with the talented Mr. Heal to songs such as 9:59 or An Airport Bar (my album favorite). Highly recommended to angry people who like to thrash about madly while dancing. If you like Cubanate, Check out C-Tec and Cobalt 60. Disappointed you won't be.

Cubanate is one of those bands that always try to reinvent their sound with each new album. So far they succeeded quite well. This album however is simply not as good as the previous ones : the constant drum 'n bass rhythm works rather annoying instead of inspiring. It is then no surprise that the two best songs (namely the last two) are recorded during the Barbarossa-period. I hope that Mr. Heal and his companion will make less effort to sound trendy next time and that they will come up with some more furious industrial sounds.

Now that Cubanate is on the ever infamous label Wax Trax they seem to have changed their sound a little more towards the Tecno side.There is still the fierce vocals but the rhythms themselves are not quite as industrial as on past albums.Still it's worth a listen to.If there is one album I would recommend it would have to be Barbarosa...guaranteed to get your juices flowing

The old Cubanate sound was great for what it was, but by the time their third album "Barbarossa" hit shelves, it was clear that there was nothing left to explore in that style. With Interference, they changed their style quite a bit. Yes, there are breakbeats, but don't write this off as techno. It's every bit as hard and angry as past Cubanate, but at the same time it's more mature and introspective. Unfortunately, the old-line fanbase balked at this change in direction--I guess they'd rather have another album of the same thing rather than be challenged a bit--and so Cubanate is reverting somewhat to their old sound for their next album. But Interference is a moment of brilliance, choked off too soon by the same single-mindedness that makes so many industrial bands sound exactly alike.

Man, what's the deal with the breakbeats? They are cool for a while, but this disc has them in almost every track! And they are all played with the same drum sounds! I only like 1 track from this entire disc and I don't even like it that much. Now that Cubanate has good distribution they decide to change their sound for the worse: why does that seem to happen to so many bands!

Now we're getting to trouble, don't expect this to be America's number 1 depressing album(make you wanna slice your wrist) and worst album ever "The Fragile" cause your nowhere close to it. Interference a high INTENSE album with raging (not angry) vocals and the guitars have reached a new ground for techno. The lyrics are quiet different, it isn't the lyrics everybody can relate to only certain people with a wild-fun life like cubanate. So don't expect to go to a cubanate concert and have your arm sticking up with a lighter on and singing along with marc heal. Cause you'll have dozen's of kicks in your face. One of the groups that go side-by-side with cubanate is "K-nitrate" awesome group. I can't believe people are still using the name "Industrial" ! haven't heard that name in almost 5 years, the name industrial is pretty much worth a penny now.

You call it techno? No way!!!!!! You call it Drum N bass? Well Im so sorry a band like this one made stupid music! I mean I love fusion between genres when it's done intelligently. Oh and another thing, I'm not only criticising the release but also the cr*p some amazon users can write thinking they know about techno music, if you are a music fan you are a pity for mankind.