Krepulec is a Polish military noise project using samples of Polish war songs. They play a fantastic dark industrial music, very repetitive, with a strong martial atmosphere and a varied orchestration. The track starts with an old song from the War in Poland, it reminds of what Der Blutharsch already did in the same way. Then come samples, dark ambient and military drums, with a rich work on sound manipulations, as it grows deeper and deeper, with a high quality in using all the different sources of music. A very strong piece of music, very well done. Cold Fusion start with an old song of the WWII, as well, and play a dark-ambient piece with many samples of voices and military drums that give a very cold atmosphere. A very good release, despite that there are only two tracks, but it worth it really.
Highly recommended !

Eastern Europe Countries reveal a large number of bands within the industrial, dark-ambient and neofolk circle, often far from our Western clichés, and influenced by the European industrial roots in music and as well by the long totalitarian regimes they had during the twentieth century. This brings a new approach to this music, with fresh ideas and a real innovation. Cold Fusion come from Poland and play a very interesting dark-ambient, military industrial music, with dark atmospheres, experimental sounds, martial drums, samples and powerful rythms. In that way they are very close in spirit and music with bands such as Stahlwerk9, Wappenbund, Karjalan Sissit, Turbund Sturmwerk and so many others in the same style. An innovative project full of sincerity which will become much more important on the international scene within a few time. As Scontrum Act I is a split CD, the other band, apparently from Germany, is a military noise and ambient project, who play pure noise tracks, close to some power electronics projects, as well as dark-ambient music with military connotations and martial rythms. Very well done and interesting.
A very nice split CD to discover two excellent bands exploring a musical style that so many already did, but this time with conviction.

Here is again a split album with Cold Fusion. I don't know anything about the other project, V-1, who play dark-ambient music. It's very repetitive, without many different directions, like a deep breath repeating itself continually, with a slow voice appearing on some tracks. The music is quite well done, but on the whole it becomes a little bit boring with time. Concerning the Cold Fusion part, "Libertine", they play military electronic and ambient music, with martial drums and samples from the WWII, songs from the same period of European History with a varied orchestration, an interesting approach of sound manipulation, and an impressive work on constructing music with all these elements, so that it sounds coherent. A nice album for fans of Stahlwerk9, Der Blutharsch or Turbund Sturmwerk or Inade.

Released to counter the actions of an infamous Russian bootleg label, Commémoration regroups on two CDs all the singles and compilation tracks of this French project's short history. Those fortunate enough to own the original releases have not been forgotten, and a few previously unreleased tracks, taken from the two album sessions, have also been included in this retrospective of sorts. Bearing in mind the rarity of some of these records, this is a release that will no doubt rejoice the fans of this military pop act and no doubt save them a few problems with their bankers...

Moisten Before Use is a British project having already released some albums for quite a long time now. "Still No Reply" has been released on cassette in 1989, and is now re-issued on CD by Fragment Music. Moisten Before Use play a very interesting and original music that features ambient manipulations, electronic minimalism, drones, abstract sampling, collages, to create an avant-garde atmosphere at its best. Tracks like "Let Sleeping Ships Lie" gives a good example of how Moisten Before Use sounds like : intense bells, tape manipulations, evasive voices, sounds of objects, slow percussions, all of that combined in a very clever way to elaborate a very strong piece of music. My favourite track is " Could Have Talked to God", an impressive song which is probably the best dub electronic song I ever heard, one that people like Mark Stewart, Adrian Sherwood or even Massive Attack would have dreamed of. A fantastic track that seems to be lost on an isolated island, in the middle of an ambient and experimental album, but apart from being the highlight of "Still No Reply", we're surprised to realise how it perfectly integrates the whole album.
A very good and surprising release, excellent !

Project of Der Blutharsch member Bain Wolfkind, Novo Homo had already released a 10" on HauRuck!, a few years ago... They have reiterated their collaboration with the release, last March, of the Novo Homo's debut full-length album. 'Private Hell' is composed of 11 tracks ranging from bombastic, pulsating electronic rhythms to lounge compositions... Nothing new on the horizon, as one can't prevent from thinking of plethora of influences/inspirations such as Laibach, Novy Svet, Mushroom's Patience, Ain Soph... while listening to this opus. A song like 'Jeanie Regret Rien' has a catchy feeling/atmosphere I would have loved to hear all along the album... As for 'Rat Line', extract from a live performance in Vienna in 2002, it closes this cd in a more energetic way and suggests a quite different and much more interesting approach to Novo Homo's music on stage...

Third release (after The Rorschach Garden and Le Syndicat Electronique) on the Berlin based label Disorder Records, 'Pulse' is a 7" from Geneviève Pasquier, the female member of Thorofon. It follows her debut album 'Virgin Thoughts' released on United Manipulation Broadcasting.
This new single features three tracks that seem to come directly from the eighties. The 'Pulse' track is low-fi abrasive synth-pop combined with the distinctive Geneviève Pasquier voice rhythmed by a cheap drum-machine... The rather short track 'Gone' is much more atmospheric and quiet, built upon drones mixed with drawn out swathes of synthesizer. As for 'Good-Bad-Girl', it reveals a noisier facet of this solo project and a more oppressive mood, though it ends on an unexpected atmospheric passage…
It is also worth mentioning the artwork as its voluntary minimalism, 'cheap' aspect (one-sheet repro Xerox cover (but it is printed on good paper), choice of the photos, thin vinyl...) suits perfectly the eighties musical environment...
The normal edition of this 7" is limited to 300 copies in black vynil; 100 copies in red vinyl also have been pressed for a special edition...
Recommended for lovers of minimal eighties dark wave.