Since 2000, the industrial project of Magnus Sundström (also the main force behind The Protagonist) released a handful of vinyl releases. This limited material is now conveniently gathered (and remastered) on the anthology Mondo Macabro. For hardcore fans of Des Esseintes this cd is interesting too, since it contains 3 unreleased tracks.

Mondo Macabro starts with the tracks ‘Muse’ and ‘Succubus’, from the first Des Esseintes 7″ single (2000). The general idea of the project becomes directly clear: an apocalyptic wall of sound, with heavy machinelike percussion, nasty noise and varying samples. A striking element of ‘Muse’ are the romantic string sounds in the background, but they are soon crushed by relentless rhythmic noise. ‘Succubus’ is heavier and more unsubtle, oppressive dark ambient meets industrial rhythms.

The first track which really appeals to me is ‘King of the Jungle’, with powerful rattling percussion, distorted screams of a madman and the feeling of being chased at full speed in a nightmare. Things pleasantly slow down with ‘Fragments’, with repetitive metallish sounds and heavy beats reminding me of Sundströms earlier incarnation Third Eye Foundation.

The album continues in this vein with crushing industrial attacks and more restrained, less brutal pieces. Sundström certainly knows how to arrange his stuff. Des Esseintes never makes pure noise, there are always melodic elements to make things more interesting. There are certainly impressive tracks to be found on Mondo Macabro, but I prefer to consume it in small doses, a full album of this stuff at once is a bit too much for me.

Author: HD. Published on: Saturday, October 21st, 2006.
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