I’m a little overwhelmed by this compilation from the British label Fleshmadeword. Not only because of the good music on these two cdr’s. Also through the sheer numbers. Almost 140 minutes, with 25 different acts, most of which I haven’t heard before. Detritus, the project of labelowner Dave Dando-Moore is present on both cd’s. Furthermore various bands from other labels have contributed music. With much new and unreleased material. Electronic stuff dominates this compilation, with a lot of different industrial styles, with uptempo beats alternated with some ambient. The cd’s are surprisingly well-balanced, with a good mixture of styles, speeds and moods. And most important, they contain hardly any weak spots!
Detritus directly takes care of a violent start, with its high-energy mix of industrial and dark drum & bass. Well done. Aural Blasphemy, whose album I like a lot, contribute a dense wall of industrial layers, less rhythmic than I am used of this act. Cdatakill creates a special atmosphere, with staggering beats and a surprising sampled acoustic guitar. Seda E Marg offers us an extreme noisy piece of industrial. The biggest surprise for me is ‘Flood’ by Red Reflection, perhaps because it ‘s really different from the rest. No industrial noise here, but an almost classical piece. A well built-up composition, very atmospheric with lovely piano sounds. It makes me interested in hearing more of this for me unknown project. Cria Cuervos darkens the atmosphere with an interesting ominous soundscape. Another highlight on cd 1 is the energetic and noisy Iszoloscope. Absolutely marvelous is Freeze Etch, with intelligent beats and a melancholic sound. Danceable and atmospheric at the same time. More noisy industrial dancefloor stuff is created by :re:pro. Chaos as Shelter contributes its speciality, an interesting dark soundscape.
Detritus again opens cd 2. After a classical intro powerful beats follow, against an orchestral background. Navicor Torture Technologies is not that energetic, but delivers a decent monotonous noisy wall of sound. Scrap.edx raises the speed, with some violent and complex beats. If that fine EBM-ish track doesn’t take you to the dancefloor, Antigen Shift probably will do so with their noisy rhythmic track, which gets more chaotic towards the end. Then we can relax a little with Cordell Klier, with a tranquil soundscape. Not for long, because the Vers serve us some energetic breakbeats and Pneumatic Detach offer us, well, pneumatic beats. Tyrophex14, one of the many projects of Jonathan Sharp, is really good, drum & bass beats, synth layers and a lot of feeling. Lumen delivers a straightforward attack with brutal beats. Mago (members of Azure Skies and Sanctum) convinces with fine ritual techno. Liquid Sphere has made a nice midtempo piece with deep beats. I like the final track by 011001 very much, a stirring melancholic composition.
A well-structured compilation, with a large amount of interesting music and many promising artists to discover, what more can you ask?
