Freakangel - The Book of Violence EP

I certainly hope that I don't have to give much of an introduction to the Estonian based electro-industrial act, Freakangel. The project formed in the latter end of 2009, and I'm just gonna stop there with the introductions, because if you haven't heard of them, you should really get your shit together and take a listen. They are really good at what they do, and prove that they can rock your world even with 'The Book of Violence EP'.

On the EP, there is the single, "The Book of Violence", and along with it comes three remixes of the same track. Now, while I am normally complaining about one track being remixed so many times over, I have mostly positive things to say about this album. Each one of the remixes differentiate from each other, so I never really felt as if I were listening to the same song over and over again.

The vocals are pretty awesome, as normal with Freakangel. They range from being just outright high pitched screaming, to low pitched growling. However, what I really found fascinating was the use of the female robotic voice on the EP. If any of you are gamers, I would really compare the voice to that of GLaDOS from the Portal series. I guess that worked me over even more, especially when the screaming was paired with the GLaDOS-like voice. That really rubbed me in the right way.

Now, the original track was very electro-industrial based, as the band is electro-industrial and I wouldn't expect it to be any other way around. However, I felt as if the song took a bit long to build up into something epic. But, what I did enjoy about the song was how it just became more and more brutal. It was as if I was actually reading a book of violence; something that just continued to get more and more bloody till the pages were made of broken flesh and rotting bone.

And, as I said, the three remixes I came across really just had my attention throughout. Besides the lyrical content, each remix sounded completely different. The Aesthetische remix took the song into a more electro-based direction, focusing less on industrial influences, and more on soothing synths. It made a pretty good paradox compared with the screaming.

The Code 64 remix definitely took it into a more club friendly direction, having a steady beat and making the vocals the key feature that stands out from everything else. It was slower, however, compared to the other two pieces mentioned thus far. Towards the end of the song, I found it to become relatable to trance, and that was alright, but kinda threw me off as well since it wasn't present earlier in the tune. It really just seemed like it did not belong.

Now, the Psionic remix definitely caught my attention the most with the intro of synths that make it sound kind of emotional, and almost movie quality like. And then it goes straight into another electro industrial direction, which was quite disappointing for me. However, the synths do come back every now and then, which also made me a little more happy.

So, I've realized that I talked about each of the songs on this release. However, that's because I really enjoyed this EP. And what's even greater about the EP is that it also serves as a snippet to Freakangel's next full length release, 'The Ones to Fall'. If that album can maintain the quality of this single, I can only say that I am more than excited for that release, and that this EP will have to quench my thirst for the time being. Please, don't let me go dry. I don't want to wait that long. May 21 2013