...Of Tanz Victims - Fighting False God

The term "industrial" has sort of lost its meaning over the decades since the genre was created by the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, and NON. What was once an artistic movement based around underground tape trading, fanzines, and otherwise unheard of performances has transformed into a cyber-junkie craze filled with neon soaked costumes that make everyone look like a Mortal Kombat character. I'm not criticizing the direction the scene has gone in (I find myself quite enjoying the sci-fi mythology that freely roams industrial), but fact remains that few and far between can actually recall where and when industrial was first named, created, and respected. 

That being said, there are still knowledgeable parties out there who can easily discuss industrial in depth as if they are a walking encyclopedia. You need not look any further than Genesis P-Orridge's "Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music" to really get a good idea of what happened when. It almost reads out loud like a diary, nonetheless, it is a captivating and fascinating read. That being said, it is always nice to see history revisited whereas it appears that not many care to learn of a genre's heritage. 

Artoffact Records is doing just that with their re-issue of ...Of Tanz Victim's "Fighting False God" 7" vinyl which originally released in 1985. While industrial had already taken off in the mid-seventies thanks to the aforementioned Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, and NON, it was in the mid eighties when a new wave of sound was created, thus leading to the post-Industrial movement. 

From there, electro-industrial and EBM, along with all the following sub-genres, just began to spit out rapidly. Specifically in Canadian territory, Skinny Puppy began to take over the scene, arguably punching out their biggest hit 'Assimilate' which quickly took many by storm. Though Vancouver began to rise in the post-Industrial movement, that did not mean that the rest of Canada was quiet with the underground movement. 

This is where ...Of Tanz Victims comes into play. Forming in the 1980's, OTV would see their first release, the three track 7" vinyl that would life off their career, released. "Fighting False God", at the time the record was released, was a challenging title for many to accept who were not accustomed to this movement. However, it was also this record that helped them become successful in European markets, allowing them to release three 12" vinyls and a number of cassettes. 

You could consider "Fighting False God" as a bit of a demo for OTV, as it only contained three songs that clock in at only eleven minutes. As most musicians do, I suspect they were trying to find their footholds in the movement and see if what they were doing would catch on with audiences. Luckily for them it would, which is why Artoffact has chosen to re-release this record, with newly designed cover art and remastered tracks (You can see the original cover art to the right).

Anyway, to put it bluntly, if you still have your copy of "Fighting False God" from all those years ago and it still plays fine, I don't see much of a reason to pick this up unless you're a collector. The remastered tracks are nice and squeaky clean, but they aren't completely necessary to get the right auditory experience. However, that being said, this is an awesome invitation for some of the younger fans of industrial music to pick up a piece of history (myself included), and will hopefully encourage many to read up on ...Of Tanz Victims and many other of the early post-Industrialists as well as some of the founding fathers. 

I love the move that was made with this record, and it's available at a cheap price, too (It's a mere $8.64USD over on Storming The Base). So, go educate yourself, grab a copy, and enjoy the music that flows off of it; this is the kind of record that is universal and timeless. 
Jul 09 2015