Chrome Corpse - Helmed Mounted Display
The latest offering from Seattle-based cult EBM act Chrome Corpse. Helmet Mounted Display is a 10 track 40 minutes ecstatic journey into the past while looking into the future, when did all the excellent acts from the 80s lose their touch and nerve?... and the sense of steel and strength offcourse.
I can namedrop the likes of A Split Second, à;GRUMH..., Invincible Spirit, Bigod20, Die Krupps, New Order etc... old-school European thing made by some young lads from the U.S. Question is, do they pull it off?
The first track Failsafe gets you back to that early FLA-sound (Total Terror) via á;GRUMH´s trailblazing Drama In the Subway. Cold steel and rhythmic synths march like an army of combat-droids, precise electro-drums, and samples tingle the nerves and cool-sounding vocals (without too much distortion).
The second track In The Shadow of Dropship offers even better vocal-work and with a more catching aggro-sound. Really love those cut-up rhythmic-samples going on... might just be one of a must when it comes to retro EBM.
The third track Remembering Your Words instantly takes you back to that track which Die Krupps did with Nitzer Ebb, could be a cover?... Nevertheless, this version sounds better in my ears... just has... way more charms, rawness, and coolness (give it a listen ok!)
The fifth track Dance Or Die gets away from the European sound, and meets up with a sound between Die Warzau and Innercity´s anthemic techno hit Good Life. Love it when modern EBM acts add a touch of Detroit techno into the mix.
The seventh track Everything Stops Moving (2020 mix) gets you right back to early 242, at the time when 242 was the hottest underground thing from Europe. Imagine a cyber-upgraded SWAT Team in a Miami Vice episode... no matter, you´ll get the picture!.
The album ends with the tenth track, another version of The Feeling Is Mutual (Eddie´s Metal Body Edit). With added industrial-rock-guitar work (groovy), the sound of metallic percussion, and more.
If you are the sort of dude/girl-whatever that loved the old sound and hate the new sound, then this fix might just be it. Hell, as it is right now... I am almost too old to dance... but why not?!.. This release is available by digital means, and also by physical means (Bandcamp link)...
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