Akalotz – Confront (CD Album – Electro Aggression Records)
Genre/Influences: EBM.
Background/Info: German duo Akalotz is back on track unleashing their second full length. The band deals with ‘pure’ EBM and got very positive reactions on the debut album “Shift To Evil” released on Electro Arc (2014).
Content: “Confront” stands for good-old EBM, which reminds me a bit of early Frontline Assembly mixed with 90s dark body-music elements. It makes me think of a symbiosis between FLA, Front 242 and Signal Aout 42 mixed with a very own touch on top.
This work stands for solid bass lines, dark atmospheres, danceable kicks and charismatic vocals in English. You sometimes will hear typical metallic percussion sounds and a few spoken samplings.
The album features 16 new cuts plus 5 remixes by Serpents, Plastic Noise Experience, Pyrroline, à;Grumh… and KFactor.
+ + + : “Confront” is a great piece of EBM, but it also reveals great writing and global production. Akalotz is a band that has seriously improved the major elements of their production. The sound became not only more mature, but especially more elaborated. This is not the ‘simple’ EBM, but an album with more sophisticated passages. It however remains in the pure EBM spirit!
I also have to admit that Akalotz have chosen great bands to remix their music. It’s not that usual to get a remix from à;Grumh… although the most noticeable one for sure is the one by Plastic Noise Experience. Last, but not least it’s not that usual to get an album featuring 16 songs plus 5 remixes.
– – – : I think that some cuts are a bit short, but that’s again the in the truest EBM tradition! My only regret is that there’s not an absolute hit featured on the tracklist, but just a lot of cool songs.
Conclusion: If you’re an EBM ‘purist’ you definitely are going to like “Confront”. This is good-old EBM composed with knowledge and efficiency! Definitely an album to look out for, composed by a band, which is slowly growing.
Best songs: “Escalate To Dominate”, “Warzone”, “No Signal Response”, “Man On The Run”, “Exit”, “No Signal Response – Nuclear Remix by Plastic Noise Experience”.
Rate: (8).
Band: www.facebook.com/akalotzebm
Label: www.electroaggressionrecords.com / www.facebook.com/ElectroAggressionRecords
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