Customer Reviews

Mind Strip

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ok guys Im brazilian so i don't want to spent my poor english here!
Everything i must say about this cd and Suicide Commando is that it rocks!
I like it since my first cd Critical Stage.
Thrust me!
A good choice!

Suicide Commando songs are basically made of three things.

1. Brutal drum loops made of sheer noize that sound awful
2. Scathing, harsh vox with terrible to tolerable lyrics
3. Probably the best melodic synthlines ever written

Put it on a dancefloor and watch the goths dance. This stuff is so much fun I cannot understand why they dont have a top-40 hit by now... the synth writing is so catchy it is impossible to get out of your head, and the beats may be violent but you can dance to them! This stuff is basically Front 242 on Steroids (Front 242 sounding like Kraftwerk on Steroids) and is absolutely delightful.

People say that Trent Reznor is pop-Industrial. I find very little of his work to be catchy. NIN is Skinny Puppy samples with guitar feedback over the top. Suicide Commando is actually catchy in the sense of music. Johan is obviously a man that knows how to write music that no one can really hate. If you have just started and are scared of this CD being 'too harsh,' dont be frightened. Its so catchy you cant help but love it. Even the brutal "Raise Your God" is catchy. This album is a staple of Slimelight's dance floor for a reason.

I had only heard one song off Mindstrip, "Jesus Wept", and it utterly blew me away. I had to get the rest of the work. So I bought Mindstrip. *sigh*.

"Jesus Wept" was a near perfect, minimalist stomp-fest. But then came "Hellraiser". As good musically, but the lyrics made me want to retch. Stupid, overdone crap. Impressive maybe 10 years ago, but Coil first, and then a plethera of others have already done it. I hoped "Body Count Proceed" would redeem it. Sort of, but the one "when I rolled him over, the back of his head was crushed" sample is overused ad nauseum. The song was about two minutes too long for this kind of work. "Raise Your God" made up for it a killer sample and breathtaking synths, but such beatiful work did not hold up. "Mindstripper" is downright boring. A single of that would get 1 star. How did it get to be the title track?? It's slow, the lyrics are repetitive and stupid, the synth is opressively high pitched, and the snare loop is wayyy too prominent for something so simple and repetitive.
"Run" just gets worse. It proves that the middle of the album is just filler. Usual suspects, boring sample repeated ad nauseum, lyrics a monkey with a typewriter could produce, and no movement whatsoever. Then to reenforce the filler concept, Van Roy creates a lackluster remix, almost killing the original "Comatose Delusion" for me. "Blood in Face" is like "Run", but with an even worse sample, if that's possible. Okay, so he mixes it up a bit, but still...
Now, "Love Breeds Suicide" pulls the album out of this self destuctive filler loop. Creepy ?bells? and excellent layering make this song really sing. And "Slaves" makes for a good finisher. But in retrospect, "Mindstripper" is definitely not worth 17 dollars. Take out the filler, John, make it a single, and have some vocal variation, please.

But kudos for the few really good songs on it. When he gets it right, he really gets it right.

Well, what could i say about Suicide Commando?, our favourite forklift driver Johan Van Roy has been making music and running his own label for well over 10 years now, with 'Mindstrip' being his latest and best release to date. Not follwing any of the current trends but further perfecting his own sound 'Mindstrip' is pure Suicide Commando: a distorted voice, brutal addictive percussion, haunting synths and extremely skilled minimalist composition that only a handfull of bands can do successfully. Prior to 'Mindstrip being released we were given a earlier taste with 'Comatose Delusion' and 'Hellraiser', these singles being really good club hits and the most dancable tracks on 'Mindstrip'. Other potential dancefloor smashers included in 'Mindstrip' are 'Raise your god' and 'Love breeds suicide'(the new e.p.is soon to be released!). The remaining six tracks are slower mid-paced saturated with chilling samples, intense powerfull rhythms and those straight-from-the torture-room vocals reminiscent of his early influences like the Klinik and Skinny Puppy. A really good album, and there is also a special limited edition boxset released for the fans containing the cd, 3 postcards, 2 stickers and a poster. For those looking to discover one of the leading dark ebm/electro bands of today, Suicide Commando offers the perfect dose. Buy this cd and experience the aggressive electronic power! ......

Suicide Commando is perhaps a group that hasn't been heard of much in America, and that's a shame. This CD is one of the best EBM albums ever made. I highly suggest purchasing it, and then you'll see why this album ranked #1 on German alternative charts, AHEAD of Limp Bizkit, Korn, and other overplayed American groups!

Having bought all the suicide commando material available, i feel that i can honestly say that this album is probably johan van roy's best creation to date. I suggest buying it to all the suicide commando fans, and even if you never heard about SC and you're interested in the industrial genre, you must give this album a good listen.

I have to say that when I got my hands on this album I was pretty impressed. I had already been addicted to the song "Bodycound Proceed" off the Metropolis 2001 sampler disc, and all the songs on here are great. As another review mentioned, the minimalist approach taken to producing this CD really works in favor of its sound, although honestly some of the repeating samples get REALLY old by the end of the song. However, songs like "Bodycound Proceed" and "Raise Your God" make this disc an unbelievable bass thumper and adrenaline rush. I also agree that this is a great disc for fans of Velvet Acid Christ. The various samples on this disc taken from the Hellraiser movies are also interesting...

"This is my blood.. This is my body.. Happy are those who come to MY supper."

A happy camper indeed.

Mindstrip is in my opinion the best of Suicide Commando's newer, dancier albums. All of the Suicide Commando staples are present here; harsh melodic leads, distorted beats, raspy vocals. However, a few differences make me appreciate this album more than the later "Axis of Evil", or "Bind Torture Kill".

First thing's first. HUGE explosive percussion. That's right, the percussion is mainly just a kick and snare. Simple, effective, and massive sounding. Second of all, the synths have that old hardware sound to them. The music stays gritty and harsh enough to keep it self well distinguished from "pop" club music.

On to the music. What we have here is classic Terror EBM, with a few Power Noise sounding tracks thrown in for an added treat. A few highlight tracks include "Comatose Delusion", "Love Breeds Suicide", and "Raise Your God". I don't feel like there's really much filler here. The tracks are for the most part consistent in quality, minus the two noisier tracks which I still enjoy. All in all I give this album 4 out of 5 stars. It lacks a lot of variation, but hey that's typical of the genre so I can't knock it too much for that alone. On the other hand this is a gem within the genre so just buy it already.

Mindstrip by Suicide Commando is raw electro-industrial with heavily distorted vocals. Most of the tracks on here are slow and angry with the heavy, banging bass that is immediately recognizable as Suicide Commando. The strongest track has to be Hell Raiser, and it's the main reason why I got this album. None of the songs are very fast, and even though the lyrics are fairly good, I've heard better from other bands of the same genre. Also, some of the samples seem muffled in spots and often the keyboard synths in the backround are overshadowed by other sounds more than they seem they should be. However, if you're in the mood for the slower, more harsh type of industrial, Mindstrip is still a good choice. It's one of Suicide Commando's better albums.

I dont write log reviews so here it it. I listened to this cd couple of times and it came to me that it sounds just like Velvet Acid Christ [VAC] so I recommend this cd to [VAC] fans. Its also simmilar to wumpscut and a little to fron 242. 5stars, must have for [VAC] fans.