Industrial Metal seems like a suitable genre to carry on with:
Ministry - Psalm 69 (1992): Although my favorite release by Jourgensen is The Land Of Rape And Honey I must admit Psalm 69 is Ministry's album that defined their uncanny legacy to the entire genre. This is a visceral sonic attack preformed with various types of acoustic weaponry. Be it by grinding your ears to exhaustion with repetitive and hypnotic loops saturated with a crap load of samples like NWA, Corrosion or Scare Crow, passing through some insanely relentless speedsters in TV II and the psychedelic Jesus Built My Hotrod this thing still has room for some borderline Thrash influenced tunes in Hero, Just One Fix and the title track. Let there be no doubts: this thing is aggressive, toxic, over the top and overwhelming at times... like a sequence of tidal waves of adrenaline inundating your veins. And man does it accomplishes that effect in a perfect fashion!
Godflesh - Selfless (1994): Unlike my previous pick this time I'll go with my personal favorite album when it comes to the band that is cited by many as the creators of the genre. Yes, Streetcleaner or Songs Of Love And Hate are much more iconic but I have a soft spot for Selfless. It opens with my favorite track from their catalogue in Xnoybis where Justin Broderick shows how gifted he is when it comes to compose songs filled with pinch harmonics and mixing mechanical aggressive stuff with almost heavenly passages. Bigot is a really dissonant and sludgy tune more in line with the previous album while Black Boned Angel brings again that amazing contrast between sludge, heaviness and soothing bright landscapes. Then the remainder of the album kinda dwells within these parameters. Besides the aforementioned tracks when it comes to slow doomy and dirty stuff Empyrial. Mantra and Body Dome Light are other excellent examples of how stunning these guys can get when injecting density in esoteric melodies while a good example of a more energetic cut is the rumbling Crush My Soul. The 24 minute long Go Spread Your Wings closes the album with various twists and turns (some even experimental/ ambiental) and such a weird, crushing, dissonant, sometimes even anesthetizing album filled with so much radiant, almost celestial moments couldn't have a better ending. Simply love this damn thing.
Fear Factory - Demanufacture (1995): I won't say much about Demanufacture since:
A ) it's a more than well known album.
B ) if you don't know it go listen to it right know.
You may ask why. Well, because it's arguably the best album of the entire sub-genre (and I may as well concur). Introducing machine gun fast herta guitar riffs followed with nano second precisionby Herrera's triggered inhuman double bass, alongside Burton's versatile vocalizations (that vary from caustic growls to almost angelic choirs) this album is a Sci-Fi headbanger's wet dream. It drags you into broody and intense ambiances with the same easiness it the uplifts you to gorgeous melodic refrains in songs like Replica, Self Bias Resistor, Pisschrist or the jaw dropping Zero Signal (if you have seen the original Mortal Kombat movie you understand how this song sounds perfect in almost everything... yes, even in a subpar at best martial arts/ fantasy movie). It also beats you to a pulp in blasters like the title track, New Breed or Body Hammer and goes as melodic as it can get on Dog Day Sunrise's cover or the closer A Therapy For Pain. Demanufacture is a flawless monument of a record I still listen to with the same enthusiasm I did when I was 19. To sum it up: an absolute classic!
Misery Loves Co. - Misery Loves Co. (1995): This two man act created a record that is truly an hidden gem and one of the most criminally underrated releases within its genre. There's tons of energy, excellent shouted/ melodic vocal variations, and even so these guys' sound can get really depressive and sludgy from out of nowhere only to return to big time havoc wrecking in a no time. The opener My Mind Still Speaks is heavy as bricks even when the melodic voice kicks in (sounding like a more Hardcore version of Fear Factory and is one of my favorites from the lot). But it's on neurotic tracks like Need Another One, Sonic Attack or Kiss Your Boots that the borderline acoustic bipolar disorder Misery Loves Co. really shows, mixing really miserable melodies with bursts of brutal Industrial Metal. This Is No Dream, 2 Seconds and Private Hell are blatant nods to early 90's Ministry while The Only Way is almost pure Hardcore uptempo mayhem. So if you like the genre take my word and give it a listen. You'll be blown away.
Laibach - Jesus Christ Superstars (1996): Ah! Laibach! The Slovenian legends and founders of the Avant-garde movement Neue Slowenieche Kunst that would later deeply influence the German counterpart NDH (from which Rammstein would later rise to stardom (owing tons of their success to Milan Fras and company). Laibach have already flirted with some guitar samples since their excellent 1988 release Opus Dei (namely Brian May guitar samples from Queen's album "It's A Kind Of Magic). But in 1996 the band finally decided to make a fully distorted guitar oriented record. And with no surprise the result was breath taking since these guys can do no wrong. God Is God opens the whole thing and DAMN! The way Laibach's amazing choruses go along with the heavy rhythm guitar is simply breath taking andthis tune simply nails you to the wall. The title track follows, an "Laibachesque" adaptation of Lloyd Webber's composition but Kingdom Of God brings the heaviness and pomp back and Abuse And Confession carries on the masterful mingle of these two aspects. Declaration Of Freedom is purely raw and visceral while Message From The Black Star's probably one of the simplest yet most exciting songs in the genre I've ever listened to. The Cross is the perfect middle ground between electronics and the metal undertones while the two last tracks pull further and further from the heavy sound dwelling once again into the choir rich ambiental soundscapes the band mastered from several years now, as if they were saying "well... it was good while it lasted but now we have go back doing our own thing". Yes, because these guys don't like to do the same thing twice... And as far as I'm concerned I'm perfectly satisfied with them only threading these waters once since they did it all in this record alone at an absurdly top notch level.
Die Krupps - Paradise Now (1997): Another band with a past really far from metal (rooted in EBM and Synth Pop during the 80's). During a brief period Die Krupps disbanded and Jurgen Englerworkedin a studio that some Metal bands used and thought it was a great idea to regroup Die Krupps and mix the band's old sound with some metallic edge. The rightfully named "I" album marked this renaissance in 1992 and if it's true I could pick this record or even their most successful "III - Odyssey Of The Mind" (both great records) but Paradise Now gets my vote any day of the week. Starting with the Ministry like uptempo of Moving Beyond we're then stunned by The Gods Of Void, this perfect mix between EBM synths a la Nitzer Ebb or Front Line Assembly and heavy as fuck guitars. My favorite song is the title track though: wandering through a calm yet tense well built ambiance until it explodes into an anthemic larger than life chorus. Black Beauty White Heat is more contained but also really cool. Rise Up is another groove filled EBM meets Metal engaging tune while Reconstruction is a slow grinder. As a bonus we still manage to get a cool Krupps like version of 60's hit song Fire by Arthur Brown. Overall a truly energetic and high quality album.
Rammstein - Sehnsucht (1997): Rammstein's early recipe was as simple as brilliant. Take the voice and martial pace of Laibach (they admitted it several times and it's ok... they were friends even before Rammstein were famous and Laibach was always perfectly fine with the similarities), add up some really edge cutting Clawfinger meets Ministry guitars and stir it with orchestrations mixed with Synth Pop keys. Et voilá! A true force of nature was born. And yes, I could pick their debut since it's easily on par with Sehnsucht's high quality but I think I like their sophomore a tad bit more. The title track is a powerful opener as it can be and although I'm not much into Engel, Tier puts the adreanline levels once again stupid high. And let's face it: no matter how basic Du Hast's composition is no one can deny how cleverly penned and addictive the damn song is. Buck Dich is another uptempo great tune and Spiel Mit Mir has that orchestral dark tone that Till uses so well to up his baso to baritone in a superb fashion (and so he does in Klavier). Kuss Mich is another highlight... simply gorgeous song with a powerful chorus (the cartoon tongue sounds are a bit wacky but what the hell). So yeah... when this album was released in 1997 I was already a fan when it came to Rammstein and it was truly a blaster, on the same echelon of their stellar debut. Also saw them in that tour in Lisbon in 1998 for the first time and obviously that reinforced my praise for these guys. When Mutter and Reise Reise came they where kind of a disappointments since the band lost some traits I loved (nevertheless these two albums still featuring some great tunes here and there) and sadly when it comes to almost everything they did ever since it gets me so disgusted I really prefer not to talk about it. But those two initial albums were the real thing.
Strapping Young Lad - City (1997): What can be said about the ingenious yet neurotic display of anger and chaos that is City? Perhaps that the song Oh My Fucking God would be a better fitting name for the album taking in account its content. But, despite all the insanity it encapsulates, Townsend's extreme Industrial metal band sophomore release is much more than that. Check the orchestrations, layers and exquisite singing on All Hail The New Flesh, Underneath The Waves or the metal sing along verses on Detox. And then pay attention to the way how it all mingles perfectly with the megaton crushing hammer in the form of the riffs conducted in a merciless way by Gene's "Atomic Clock" pounding. This thing is dense, saturating, yet it's peppered with gems all over the place. And really unique gems because no one (and I literally mean NO ONE) composes music like Devin Townsend does. I'm not saying he's better or worst... just has his unique thing. Then there's Room 429's cover and is that thing haunting yet beautiful at the same time! City may be the product of a guy going insane (while addicted to lots of crap that isn't quite helping) but even so the absolute sonic neutron mega bomb this album is (and the almost alien like way its wiring is done) is simply out of this world. And although I'm really happy for Dev for stepping out of this state of mind... well... at least he produced this masterpiece (and others) while in the eye of the storm. Absurdly off the charts stuff when it comes to uniqueness, quality and heaviness.
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Bizarra Locomotiva - Bestiário (1998): So here is BL, my fellow countrymen. And let me tell you... been a fan since their first album in 1994 and these guys rule! Seriously, I put them on the same level of almost every top class Industrial rock act out there. Their previous two albums already had some stellar momments and songs (Apêndices, Fear Now, Falso Movimento, Ultraviolência) but with the excellent addition of Miguel Fonseca on guitars, main composer Armando Teixeira had now a great song creating ally (since singer Rui Sidónio was solely the lyrics man). After a noise filled intro, Câmara Ardente (Vigil Service) comes crawling in with this calm, almost Trip Hop feel to it until it unfolds into a muscular chorus with Sidónio unleashing his roaring power. Gato Do Asfalto (Alphalt Cat) marks the beginning of the concept Bestiário (Bestiary) is all about: animals serving as metaphors of aspects of human kind as vices. And dwelling on illegal road races and its victims Gato Do Asfalto is truly heavy and engaging with a really odd yet addictive time signature. Cavalo Alado (Flying Horse) is another monster song. Its stomping gallop takes no prisoners, a song about heroin addiction (horse is slang for heroin in Portuguese). Speaking of highlights you have Grifos De Deus (Griffins Of God) with its apocalyptyc ambiance (dealing with religious manipulation) or Minotauro (Minotaur) a diatribe on the cruelty of bull fighting. Finnaly I must single out O Escaravelho (The Sacarab, this one dealing with IA, I guess), a song with such a tension and following gigantic groovy riff that, if it doesn't make your head bang from the moment it kicks in you better check your pulse. To sum it up: near perfect album that only seems to get better with time.
Samael - Reign Of Light (2004): I forgot to count how many times Samael was featured in my lists but I dare to say it's neither the first nor the second time. And although I truly love the band I'm not a super fan by any stretch. So I can only think about one fair explanation for this and it's the eclectic vein of the Swiss collective. And although Reign Of Light still has a fair amount of Symphonic elements (and sometimes even bits of world music) this time Vorph and Xy went for a more modern and mechanized style. Moongate opens up with some middle eastern licks before the main riff kicks in and then the vocals take the lead. And behold... what Vorph is doing may be mistaken with rapping (when taking in account the speed and monotone pitch) but in all honesty his voice is serving as the mechanized wire as the melody resounds all around. It all flows into a glorious chorus like only these dudes can pull. Inch'Allah threads perfectly that line between Industrial metal and orchestral flavor once again... and behold: another gorgeous chorus. A simple yet edgier guitar riffage alongside some cool samples and once again world music arrangements can be heard on the tittle track while the triumphal On Earth is more on the Symphonic side of Samael. But it's when it comes to the advance single Telepath that things get really interesting. It seems like a duel between Industrial Rock on the verses/ refrain and orchestrations on the pre chorus (there's even some horns sections back in the mix). Love it! Finally I must single out As The Sun, such an excellent song that if it was sang by Trent Reznor it wouldn't sound out of place on an early Nine Inch Nails album. So there you have it: another one of my favorite Samael records (BTW the lyrics are truly uplifting) and perhapsthe band's most accessible album. Featuring less metalized guitars and a cleaner vocal approach while having a more Industrial rock feel it but never forgetting their blueprint. Strongly recomend it.
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