Mentallo & The Fixer - “Zothera” 3xCD

Reissued 90s electro-industrial mayhem

Back in the late 80s and early 90s, when I was editor of a small-press zine centered on “industrial” music, I received a C90 demo tape from Texan brothers Dwayne and Gary Dassing. It was a heaping amount of well-produced sequencer-driven electronic music that bared much resemblance to acts like Skinny Puppy or Front Line Assembly, with elegant strings bringing a beauty and warmth to the hard programmed beats and heavily-distorted vocals.

Shortly after that demo, the band signed to esteemed German electro-industrial-dance label Zoth Ommog, where they released several albums and singles to much acclaim, especially overseas with the growing legions of industrial fans. Personal strife ended the band in the early 2000s, before they regrouped for Belgian industrial label Alfa Matrix in 2007. 

This boxed set is a remastered comp of their first 2 albums for Zoth, “Revelations 23” and “Where Angels Fear To Tread”, alongside a third set of unreleased and remixed material titled “Apocrypha”. Looking back, Mentallo & The Fixer were certainly not trend-setters of their genre, yet these early albums do capture a moment in time when this kind of sound was on the rise, and it seemed poised to make inroads commercially, even. Well, that never quite happened, but Mentallo nonetheless built quite a following over Europe with these albums. 

There’s not much I can say individually about these albums, as they are quite similar. The lyrics have little bearing as they’re too distorted to decipher without a lyric sheet. I can report that the remastering adds some depth and kick to the already well-produced sound, and the brothers do manage some rather intricate layering of programming (some of which shows an affinity for the Berlin school of synth-sequencer units, and most likely German synth pioneers like Tangerine Dream). There is a moment of respite in the 1+ minute piano interlude, “Bleek Seclusion, but nearly 4 hours of the sequencer stuff starts to grate, so for serious fans of Mentallo’s aggressive electro, this is a heyday. Casual fans like me? Enjoyable in small doses. 

Alfa Matrix

Ohm - "Ohm" CD

Top-tier Vancouver industrial

A duo consisting of Vancouver industrialists Craig Huxtable (Landscape Body Machine) and Chris Peterson (ex-Front Line Assembly/Delerium and Decree), Ohm's debut is a sturdy set of deep, dark, and textural electronic tunes that will immediately please fans of bands like FLA, Skinny Puppy, or Numb. 

The opener, "When Robots Fuck", is subtle, mid-tempo, and effective enough to set the mood. "Car Crash" follows, and this is among the band's finest moments -- a subtle, heavy, and even catchy industrial thumper. "Detroit" features whispery vocals by Kaine Delay (of fellow Vancouver industrial punks Left Spine Down), and  is another winning combination -- all cinematic electronics with a masterful analogue beat undermining it all. "Destroyed In Seconds" and "Brute" are more aggressive mesh of furious techno rhythms and declarative vocals in the spirit of Peterson's excellent Decree project. 

Overall, a superb album of dark industrial beat masterpieces, and with really solid production, this is definitely steps ahead of of their peers. More, please!

Artoffact Records

Ohmbook

Pouppee Fabrikk - "The Dirt" CD

Fine classic-style aggro-electro

After an absence of 12 years, this Swedish electro-EBM act has returned, and damned if "The Dirt" isn't a fine retro-styled electro sequencer assault in the vein of classic DAF or early Nitzer Ebb. In fact, a notice inside the packaging (titled "EBM Is Dead") announces that many of these songs were originally conceived back in the late 80s, and have been entirely re-worked in 2012-2013 by the band, eschewing modern electronic trends and club-friendliness in favor of old-school aggression, directness, and ultimate simplicity. I say bravo!

Opening with the harsh "Bring Back The Ways Of Old", these 11 tracks are classic harsh, gutteral, and potent old-school electro -- with no frills and no apologies. My only complaints are with the often-clumsy lyrics, but then again this is a Swedish band, and English may not be their native tongue. "Bright Light" is brutish electro-thrash, harkening back to classics like Front Line Assembly's "Caustic Grip" era, but with more aggression. "Death Is Natural" slows things down a mite, but stays angry, dark, and heavy, as does the churning, pulsating "Promulgation". "Symptom" is another barn-burner of amped-up electro-thrash -- effective and cool. "The Dirt" is a solid release, tailor-made for fans of classic electro-EBM.

Alfa Matrix

Pouppeebook

Mentallo & The Fixer - "Music From The Eather" 2xCD

Having listened to these Texan brothers since receiving one of their cassette demos way back in the late 80s, it's good to see them still around and further honing their heavy sequencer electronic body sounds. "Music From The Eather", the Dassing brothers' first release in 5 years, consists of two extended discs. 

"Good News And Warnings" (CD1) is 13 tracks (and over 70 minutes) of hypnotic and moody instrumental electro-industrial soundtracks. Tracks like "Untapped Regions" are darkened slices of electronic textures that harken equally to the percolating sequences of Tangerine Dream and the noisy horror-scapes of Skinny Puppy. "Shadow Of My Former Self" is a thick, layered assault of sequences, samples, and rhythms -- complex but still based more on rhythm than melody. "Wandering Off In The Dark" is a reflective 12-minute journey, complete with Biblical verses, hallucinogenic sound gurglings, and wicked rhythm programming. 

The second disc, "Altered Everything Forever", is another 18 tracks and 70+ minutes -- with more new cuts and remixes. It's all in a similar vein, with deftly-programmed electronic rhythms and intensely detailed sequencers and samples. A solid (if somewhat indulgent) genre release, and squarely-aimed at Mentallo's rabid 90s-era fanbase, "Music From The Eather" is a winner.

(Alfa Matrix)

Mentallospace