A Blogger's Guide To Essential Industrial Music
Front Line Assembly are remarkably prolific so you would be forgiven if you wondered where in their back catalogue you should start. My favourite period has to be pre- Tactical Neural Implant (1992) when they had a much more basic and direct sound. Here are a couple of pre-TNI tracks that I think are just superb.
You could argue that I’m giving more space to Rhythmic Noise than it warrants, it was after all a relatively short lived niche subgenre in an already niche subculture. I really like it though and remember it as a real breath of fresh air in the stagnating goth/industrial scene of the late 90s. Think of it as a return-to-source movement that takes Esplendor Geométrico, SPK and their like as inspiration but making music in a post-Techno world. Anyway, here are some more great rhythmic noise albums.
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Iszoloscope – Au Seuil Du Néant (2003)
With albums alternating between dark ambient and furious rhythmic assault, Au Seuil Du Néant (2003) is one of the later. It’s all very hectic with songs sounding fairly similar to each other with short ambient interludes between them. I prefer this to their much more varied The Audient Void (2005). |
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Converter + Asche + Morgenstern – Erode (2001)
Brilliant collaboration album. Dark moody and furiously aggressive at times. Monster is the stand out club hit but the rest of the album is of equal quality.
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Morgenstern – Cold (2000)
Hypnotic and pretty lo-fi sounding. I want to say that it leans towards ambient but if it does then it is a passive aggressive sort of ambient. |
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Axiome – Rictus (1999)
Excellent stripped down rhythmic noise that at times pulls off a relaxed-ish atmosphere at odds with the percussion.
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Synapscape – Act! (2005)
Excellent album although I still have a soft spot for the track 7th Sect from So What (1999).
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By the power of youtube here are a couple of DAF classics
I know I don’t have to say it but go buy the albums…
This is a fan video to accompany the song but what a great video.
http://www.artforum.com/inprint/id=5482
Good article on Laibach, their art and politics
Laibach‘s album Opus Dei (1987) compared stadium rock concerts with the hysteria of Nazi rallies of the 1930s highlighting how a nation might be seduced by fascism. The video below is Laibach‘s brilliantly satirical cover of the Austrian stadium rock band Opus’ Life Is Life. The German language version is better but doesn’t have this excellent video crammed with indirect fascist imagery to go with it. I guess that not everyone speaks German and if they want to put their antifascist message across to a wider audience they have to sing in English.
Video from ppesho
Context is everything and the lyrics to Queen‘s One Vision take on a scary new significance when covered as a Wagneresque fascist anthem.
Ein Fleisch
Ein Blut
Ein wahrer Glaube
Eine Rasse und ein Traum
Ein starker Wille
Scary stuff. “Get me a light beer!“
Video from odysee
Something a little different that I felt I had to share. This visually captivating video is of Nocturnal Emissions with Poppo Shiraishi performing at the Earshot Festival in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1990. This incarnation of Nocturnal Emissions was represented by Nigel Ayers, Daniel Ayers & Newcastle’s own, Ben Ponton (ZovietFrance).
The video is courtesy of Nigel Ayers of Nocturnal Emissions. For more info visit http://www.earthlydelights.co.uk and http://www.nigelayers.com
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Current 93 – Thunder Perfect Mind (1992)
Essential Neofolk Album. Eccentric occult folk delivered with David Tibet’s trademark vocal style. I’d recommend this and All The Pretty Little Horses (1996). |
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Death In June – But, What Ends When The Symbols Shatter? (1992)
Essential Neofolk Album. Mellow sounding goth folk with anti-christian themes and a certain amount of deliberate fascist ambiguity. |
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NON – God And Beast (1997)
Self-styled satanist, fascist and prankster, Boyd Rice loves to poke his finger in wasp’s nests. ”Do you want turtle war?” |
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Laibach – Novo Akropola (1986)
Excellent album but the one Laibach will always be remembered for is the brilliantly satirical Opus Dei (1987) in which they covered stadium rock/pop songs and, by simply changing the words into German and slowing them down, created disturbing fascist anthems.
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Various Artists – Looking For Europe (2005)
If you are interested in neofolk/martial industrial then Looking For Europe (2005) is an excellent compilation and it’s pretty extensive too. Not only does it cover most of the main players on the neofolk scene but there are also some really interesting track choices like Nico and “that song from the Wickerman“. The only really glaring omission is the lack of Current 93. I also wouldn’t mind seeing some Agalloch on there too but that’s probably just me. (Ta to Automageddon for the compilation suggestion.) |
I’ve rewritten the Essential Rhythmic Noise albums to include Winterkalte’s Drum’n'noise (1999). There are so many great rhythmic noise tracks that I’ll put the shortlist on a different page together with some individual track suggestions such as Clear Stream Temple’s Pentagonium (Buried in concrete mix).
