Flesh:On:Steel - Notausgang

Flesh:On:Steel Introduces us to Archetyp, a brand new, potential French label, specialising in dark ambient, death industrial, and all other forms of darker electronic music.

This first label release is limited (like many releases) to 100 copies, and documents the collective insight of an artist who is invariably obsessed with the interaction between Mankind and Machine.

What we are offered here is essentially something that would fit in amongside French label mates Hermetique's offerings. Sounds echo from power electronics, to minimal attacks on the nerve systems, and the overall feel echos that of Inade's 'Aldebaran' masterpiece, with touches of Megaptera,

Rusted Gears and Cogs squeak, layered with lurking terror, and nightmarish textures. The actual titles of the tracks do a lot towards the integrity of the release, the interplay between tracks 1 and 4 (I saw a ghost in the mirror - and it laughed back at me) is worth a particular mention.

"I saw a ghost" is actually an incredibly violent track, with very random hyper fast electronic madness, and distorted vocals resembling an industrial carnival straight from the Underworld itself.

There is a nice aura of accomplishment to this release, everything works and falls into place perfectly - in fact, the vibrant and distressing feel actually surpasses far too many other bands. This is a rarity in that from the beginning to the end, I feel genuinely uneasy. Manical voices and screams just produce a feeling that no one ever wants to experience. Unless you're a sick fuck like me.

The songs are fairly lengthy too, towards the end a couple of tracks push past the thirteen minute mark.

'Notausgang' acts as a prologue to the future; our own limited mortality, and the fading out of humanity as it is replaced by machine, an ever faithful and tireless worker.

This may be a nightmare on paper, and listening to it is a total pleasure, as every sense gets tweaked and manipulated, but the shocking reality is that the artist is so right in his portrayal. Machines are becoming ever relied on, and it is only a matter of time until we are controlled by them.

This debut release by both the artist and the label is full of promise and potential, and I would advise anyone into Megptera, Inade, or even Navicon Torture Technologies to take a look. Sep 28 2006