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Keep In Mind That This Is A Retrospective

Gregor | New York | 04/26/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a balm for all the Mentallo fans who were disappointed by their last two albums. Gary and Dwayne (?) remaster and retouch some of their better- known tracks without rendering them unrecognizable. It's especially nice to hear the hi-fi versions of REVELATIONS 23 songs -- an album that I've always felt suffered from poor recording quality despite some excellent compositions. Occasionally some new lyrical bits occur (as in "Legion of Lepers"), and it sounds as though Gary scrapped the old vox and started fresh in some cases (such as "Tachyon"). All in all, GRIMPEN WARD is a very worthy retrospective for this very innovative electronic band.In response to the previous review:I think it's misleading to those who are unfamiliar with the M&TF sound to claim that it is "derivative of Skinny Puppy." SP is a considerably influential act, and no doubt Gary and Dwayne were in part inspired by early SP work, but I've never gotten the sense that they were out to imitate them (like so many other "industrial" acts). It's true that Gary's voice is often distorted, that M&TF make use of samplers, synthesizers, drum machines, etc. They've very rarely made use of guitar -- it doesn't seem to fit in their aesthetic of rolling synth bass sequences, dense drum programming and warbling synth strings. Occasionally (more often in their early work) a film sample works its way into the mix -- I think they were the first to make use of the "tears in rain" bit from BLADERUNNER, btw. Notably, M&TF avoid the Gothicisms and 4/4 beats of the majority of electro artists and seem to be focused on creating tracks that are simply interesting to listen to, both on and off the dance floor. In fact, after Skinny Puppy and Front 242, I would venture to say that Mentallo & The Fixer are the most imitated "industrial" act out there. Even Ogre is a fan."