Psychedelic sampled industrial??? well, good music.
D. M. MATALLIN | Valencia, Spain | 06/28/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I neglected this band for almost 10 years. I remember when I was about to start working in a program about industrial music in a radio station (well, they kid me and never gave me that job, sob sob) somebody lent me an album by The Young Gods and I almost didn't pay any attention to it convinced that my Front Line Assembly/Wumpscut/NIN/etc albums were much better. Now some of those bands bore me, some I still love. But I have quite recently discovered that The Young Gods deserved attention.Well, to the point. I bought this album, which is their latest so far. And when I started listening to it I was instantly hooked. It is industrial if we accept labels, but it's not so easily categorised. It has something of the psychedelic bands of the 70's (not so much in this album as in other albums but oh well).
They basically work with sampled guitars which usually make a dense sonic wall, dynamic electronic basses and good beats that may change several times within a song. They don't bore me at all, cos unlike other "industrial" bands I don't want to mention, they touch very different moods and tempos with their songs. Second nature is a very good industrial album. The guitar and electronic parts are very balanced, but not in a fight or a clean partition (50% guitars, 50% electronics), but instead they form together a very intelligent body of sound. Oh words words words. Sorry, to the music.The album starts with 2 industrial bombs, 'Lucidogen' and 'Supersonic'. This guy knows how to use his voice. He is agressive but not in a hey-my-throat-seems-to-be-swallowing-nails way (let's think KMFDM, FLA, Wumpscut...), but more in a rockish way. In fact, I think The Young Gods is a rock band, just... experimental and conscious of their sonic experimentation.But not all the songs are bombs, that's what usually makes me bore some KMFDM or Ministry, that all the songs sound the same (just my opinion, don't kill me). In the album we can also find more mid-tempo songs like the wonderful 'Laissez Couler' which is one of the best songs I've heard lately. Or the completely atmospheric 'Attends' or 'Toi du Monde' where the voice is lost in an electronically ambient atmosphere. Some songs are very original for an "industrial" band, like 'Stick Around'. The most electronic song is 'The Sound in Your Eyes', whcih has one of the best electronic bass I've ever heard. They master the use of noise perfectly, giving it in perfectly observed doses (in the choruses of 'The Sound in Your Eyes' or 'Lucidogen'. I recommend this album to everyone who likes industrial music (if you understand industrial as the combination of electronics and guitars with a usually hard edge) but who thinks most industrial bands are stagnated in a very tight way of song composition. If you like this album definetely buy 'TV Sky' ( abit more guitar-based) and 'Heaven Only' (similar but a bit less hard). Thx for reading this."
Young Gods at its best
D. M. MATALLIN | 01/20/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"One of the most acomplished album of the band, be it for music or lyrics. And ... for my american co-reviewer, two tricks for your general culture :
- Switzerland happens not to be in France and thus its inhabitants are called ... the Swiss
- some of the lyrics are not in bad English but ... in French.Cheers,"
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1