The duo Mr. And Mrs. Arafna have for their new record Butterfly again taken the opportunity to unleash a sound bombardment upon the listener. Haus Arafna does know, unlike most other industrial acts today, how industrial music should sound. Their music is raw, unpolished, pure electronic, minimal, dark and alienating. The tradition that started in the seventies with Throbbing Gristle is continued by this act.
Most tracks on Butterfly are more like sound structures than songs. Most tracks don’t have a very clear beginning or ending. On top of the pulsating and distorted sounds lyrics are spoken or screamed. TNO (a Dutch research facility) has recently taken a look at the music of Haus Arafna. Some of descriptions for the music they used in their report are: aggressive, painful and alarming. Maybe this is the case with inexperienced listeners, but for people familiar with this kind of music tracks like ‘Satanas and Friends’ and ‘Agitation’ are simple highlights of the genre.
For all familiar with the clubhit ‘Für Immer’ but who were too late to get the limited edition 7”, there is an alternative version of that song on this album. This song is still very good and in a strange way danceable. Butterfly is just an excellent album. Every fan of industrial music should own a copy!
