First Aid Recordings was founded in 2003 by The Pain Machinery, as an ‘antidote to the stagnation in the electro/industrial scene’. Its first release is the compilation “Proven in Action”, in collaboration with Ad Noiseam. All 17 tracks are previously unreleased and exclusive to this cd. It contains an impressive line-up of a variety of electro/industrial names. Proven acts are alternated with new talents. The overall atmosphere is quite harsh and cold.
Most surprising is the presence of yelworC, the legendary dark electro act which has been silent for quite some years. ‘Triune junction’ is a quite special track, with a variety of elements. It’s not really comparable to their older work. It’s a bit bombastic soundtrack-like. The dark vocals are typical yelworC though. Not a very accessible track, but one which grows after repeated listening. Another famous act on this cd is Dive, with a live version of their minimal classic ‘Bloodmoney’.
“Proven in action” is a pretty strong compilation, where the mostly noisy, umtempo pieces are alternated with a few more atmospheric tracks. Some of my favourites include the broken beats of Splitter, the fast and rhythmic Tarmvred (good as always), the deep dry beats of Milligramme, the danceable straightforward EBM of F/A/V, the breakbeat/classical crossover of Detritus and the dark drum&bass of Cdatakill. On the last track Leak offers an industrial wall of sound that blows you away, followed by two minutes of almost silence.
