Karbu38 - Tour De Chauffe

I'd been putting this review off for the simple fact that whenever I sat down ready to listen to it, I lost all interest, but after forcing myself to hear the full release, I've figured it's not all that bad. Reviewing music which stems from older roots as a key factor, for me, is difficult. I didn't grow up listening to the early Industrial/EBM figureheads and most, if not all, were formed before I was born. Whilst I appreciate its value and listen loosely to it, I'm not as much a fan as most other Industrial fans are. But alas, Karbu38 are a French band which aim to rejuvenate oldschool EBM music with a more modern twist and the 2011 release 'Tour De Chauffe' while containing an impressive 17 tracks (4 of these being remixes) I kept feeling a sense of unfulfillment. The album provided a reminiscent EBM flavour with aspects of early Punk. Somewhat reminded me of Atari Teenage Riot's "Revolution
Action" just less angsty.

Opening with a self-titled introduction track leading into the second track "Gamma GT", which sampled part of The Shining, I found that nothing really stood out and the album seemed to fade into the distance in parts but then abruptly throw itself around in my face (somewhat similar to the character of Jack Torrance from The Shining), figuratively speaking; "Forza Metale", "Ready Steady Go!" and "Prototype 3.8" being a few examples of this. However for the rest of the album it just felt
mediocre or a bit dry. Like opening a packet of crisps to find that while they're flavoured, every now and then you get a few that seemed to have avoided the flavouring process and just taste plain. Similes aside, it's alright. It holds that rebellious dark edge with the foundations of oldschool Industrial which mixes male and female vocals alike, granted that's quite uncommon but whether it works well together is up to the individual.

Remixes include artists such as: Autodafeh, Spark!, Darkmen and Tech Nomader, with Autodafeh and Tech Nomader providing an alternate take on the original tracks but not actually setting a huge contrast between remix and original. On the contrary, the Spark! and Darkmen remixes of "Ready Set Go!" upgrade the track with a more modern electronic/dance feel. Ending with another track after the remixes, "Accident", it seems ironic that this track comes after the remixes rather than the usual format of placing original tracks in order before ending with remixes, however it was a quirky track, resembling aspects of a sailor's song. I remain vaguely neutral on this but as a release with such diversity and ingenuity of being different then it comes with a recommendation. Heavily recommended if you're fond of early Industrial and EBM music such as Front 242 and Front Line Assembly. But for me, I felt that while there could have been more, it simply didn't strike a chord. Dec 23 2011