What follows is an unofficial list of what a cracked individual deems to be the top 10 Industrial releases from 2011. Some may find this agreeable and a few may vent in rage at the sheer madness of some of the items in this list. In any case these are the sounds from the past 12 months that have proven themselves to full of that unexplainable magic that fill this mad man with energy and excitement!
It was a very exciting year full of surprises and many incredible releases. This list was both very easy and extremely difficult to put together - hate it or love it we start with the countdown with…
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10. Eisenfunk “Pentafunk” Released: 12 August Label: Danse Macabre Records Eisenfunk reminds me of KMFDM. I can almost hear cries of, “You’re mad! They are nothing alike!” but I assure you they have at least one thing in common – they love the sound of their own name. Pick pretty much any song by either band and you will here them singing their name loudly and proudly… sometimes over and over and over and over and over and…. Eisenfunk are the evolution of techno (I can hear those cries again!). Listen carefully and you will hear the minimal, layered, pulsating rhythms; strip out the vocals and you get that maddening beat that has only one purpose – dance, dance, DANCE!!!!
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9. Grausame Töchter “Mein Eigentliches Element” Released: 1 April Label: Scanner / Dark Dimensions Girls, gasmask, latex, electro-beats – what’s not to like? Prior to “Mein Eigentliches Element” (My Original Element) I had never heard of Grausame Töchter but their curious mix of martial EBM and electro makes for a melodic creature I want to snuggle up with and stroke all night long (did I mention girls wearing gasmask?). At times the vocals are very much in-your-face and meld wonderfully with the militaristic, regimented sound that gets the timid dancing before they realize it!
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8. Chainreactor “Insomniac” Released: 1 April Label: Pro Noize Gritty, punchy and intense are what Chainreactor’s second studio album is all about. If you like your industrial dark, fast and brutal you’re in luck with 12 highly energized, lyrically minimal, and sometime thought provoking tracks. These are followed by 4 bonus remix tracks by Incubite, [X]-Rx, Xotox and [Organic Cage] and they are all exciting and very pleasing. I don’t know about you but I love [X]-Rx and Chainreactor – mixing the two is an explosive orgasm at the end of an album that is as good as sex (yes, with a real living human being!)!
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7. Dance Or Die “Nostradamnation” Released: 10 June Label: Out Of Line This is dark electro EBM from one of the pioneers of the darker recesses of Alternative music. Some would say Dance Or Die epitomizes the Gothic Industrial mash-up and I agree. One of my all time favourite songs is Psychoburbia from the 1992 album of the same name – here it makes a reprise on disc 2 (did I mention there is a bonus disc?) and as usual is a brilliant piece of aural ecstasy. However, it is the 15 new tracks that are the focus here and once again is a title track that takes centre-stage and will get both industrialists and goths shaking their arse on the dance floor.
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6. Revolting Cocks “Got Mixxx?” Released: 11 February Label: 13th Planet RevCo continue to create some of the most gritty and filthy music with a finger lickin’ groove with their 10th studio album. Sure, this is a raunchy remix of their 2010 album “Got Mixxx?” but it packs 11 of the best trashy and super groovy songs you will have heard since… well, since 2010! Crass, politically dangerous, and most importantly hysterical this is another masterpiece by Al Jourgensen and cohorts that is sure to please even the most discerning deviant.
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5. KMFDM “WTF?!” Released: 26 April Label: Metropolis Records There are echoes of classic KMFDM, a dash of MDFMK, and a whole lot of new fun to be heard throughout “WTF?!”. If industrial rockin’ beats are what you like you will not be disappointed as there is more than enough ultra-heavy pumping grooves to make your ears very happy indeed. The familiar hi-octane beat will be familiar to anyone who has ventured into the aural landscape of Sascha "Kapt'n K" Konietzko, but fear not as there is plenty of new ground covered for both new and old.
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4. Santa Hates You “Jolly Roger” Released: 8 December Label: Trisol / COP International Dirty themed industrial beats with a clean synth-y sound from one of the co-founders of Project Pitchfork - are you ready to set to sail with the crew of “Jolly Roger”? Be warned - this has more in common with pirates than Santa and elves. Beautiful, cruel and superior as the sea, malignant, perfidious and sombre as the thrashing tentacles of a giant squid… “Jolly Roger” makes all the other Electro projects look like bloody amateur pirates. Hoist the colours!
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3. Armageddon Dildos “Untergrund” Released: 18 February Label: Alfa Matrix The Armageddon Dildos are back and have evolved their sound whilst still maintaining a unique flavor of intonation. This two-disc set comes with nearly 2 hours of brilliant electro-industrial mayhem. It’s almost hard to believe this German due formed in 1988 - not many industrial acts have survived intact for as many years and of these that have even fewer have continued to grow their sound whilst being one of the forces that shapes the music we love.
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2. Ben Arp “2010 In 3 Parts” Released: 4 January Label: Ben Arp/Band Camp This was the first music I bought in 2011 and despite the title it is from early January 2011. These are some of the most powerful tunes that border on timeless (as much as industrial can be with it’s heavy reliance on technology and trends). Pulsing, minimalistic, curious, haunting and addictive these are three tracks that will be in my permanent rotation; they even sit along side the likes of Combichrist on my gym track list. As a matter of fact I’ve been listening to it whilst writing this and I think you should give it a listen too!
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1. VNV Nation “Automatic” Released: 16 September Label: Out Of Line Ronan Harris (electronics, lyrics, vocals) and Mark Jackson (drums) return VNV Nation to classic form with uplifting, almost cheerful, anthemic qualities. I knew from the intro track that this was going to be something special and it is. Sure, there are flaws with this but you soon forget these as you find yourself listening for the 100th time without realizing what’s just happened.
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