Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good and bad., October 26, 2009
I like the fact that Combichrist are starting to sound more and more like an actual band and less like a one man show...but this album only has a few really great tracks and I think most of the songs are overly repetitive and tiresome. Maybe the next album will be less of a drag.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome, February 15, 2009
Incredible album, without any doubt this ranks up with their best work. Combichrist has once again blown me away with how talented they continue to be. Yes, their songs do have repetitive beats and some can sound the same (come on, they've come out with how many albums in how many years?) but the drums sound even better (more powerful) in this album than any of the others which is great, and the techno beats are really addicting in this one. "We Are All Demons" is one of my personal favorites because it's such a strange melody and seems like a 'techno ballad', and my top pick is "Scarred" because of the unique beat and the powerful sound.
This album is worth every single penny.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Combichrist continues to hone a winning recipie., May 17, 2009
Combichrist makes super-aggressive, pounding electronic music, incorporating elements from industrial, electro, EBM, and other electronic dance forms. This album doesn't alter Combichrist's basic recipe from previous releases. Most of the sounds and concepts are extensions of those used on previous albums. But to me, that doesn't matter in the least. The album sacrifices innovation for quality: every song is good, many are great. This solid cd further cements Combichrist's status as one of the pillars of contemporary dark electronic music.
Combichrist's vocals are not like typical "hellektro" vocals. They are naturalistic- not processed through a vox machine. In that sense they hearken back to old-school industrial or even punk such as Black Flagg or maybe proto-industrial like Big Black.
There are significant differences between Combichrist and "hellectro/dark electro" such as Suicide Commando or Hocico. One of Combichrist's major contributions to the genre is the injection of a healthy dose of irony into a field which takes itself quite seriously. There is rage and fury, but it is married to a lampooning and a wink and nod toward the excesses of that fury: BDSM, blood and guts, killing, etc., are all used with a clever combination of pure feeling vs. gleeful irony. Combichrist is FUN and FUNNY, qualities that make it completely unique in the world of hard electronics/industrial dance.
From the first sample which opens the album, a answering machine message left by an idiotic-sounding dude on his way to jail asking to be bailed out, to the female vocals that lace a lot of the songs - a whiny and pissed off sounding chick who apes and eggs on the vocalist like a 1940's gangster's moll, to more wacky samples such as a robo-Asian voice repeating "my grandma gives good head!" over and over, there's a slapstick element to this music that allows you to feel the rage and laugh at yourself at the same time.
In summary, this is another great release from a master of the genre with a unique style.
For those looking for more of the humorous side of Combichrist, the side project Scandy is a winner. A little lighter sound, and Andy doesn't sing very much- mostly instrumentals and some of those same kooky female vocals. Check it out.
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