FACTORY
Late
Night with David Zayas
Halo,
Skin Chamber, Butthole Surfers, Fear Factory, Lament, Harajuku, Sunscreem
It’s
3:45 am and I just got in from a wonderful night out with friends. The three of
us haven’t hung out together in a long time, so it was fun going out and being
silly with them. We got drunk and danced all night at clubs I’ve never been. It’s
good to break away from the normal routine and get out to new places. You meet
all sorts of new, strange people. Tonight, I met a wacked-out Whitney Houston
impersonator, a pretentious choreographer without an ounce of talent in his
body, and a beautiful (if not a bit too aggressive) woman who asked me to marry
her. Wow, I need to do this more often, eh?
I
have so much I want to talk about right now. First, let me tell you about this
new tape I got called Halo by one-man Canadian act named Prayer
Tower. This latest release from the Third Mind Records label
features the genre’s usual distorted vocals laid over infectious, electronic
dance beats. But there is a certain something that makes it stand out from the
usual wall of noise. The best compliment I can give it is this: Listening to it,
gave me the same majestic feeling I had when I first heard Confessions of
a Knife by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. It sounds like an
instant masterpiece. The best tracks on it are “Electric State”, “Temptation”,
and the sublime “Hate Like This”. In my humble opinion, Halo
by Prayer Tower has the kind of sound that “Industrial” music should
embrace once again, as opposed to the “Heavy Metal” sounds that bands like Ministry
have pushed it toward.
Standing
as a prime example of that “Metal” sound I described above, is the new album Trial
by Skin Chamber on Roadrunner Records. This album can only be
described as ugly. From the cover art to the music within, everything
here is so dark, scary, and inaccessible that it is a wonder it was even made.
However, there is much to enjoy among the twisted horror. The tracks “Throb”
and “Slow Crime” remind me of Metallica on downers. And although other
songs like “On a Drunk”, “Torturous World”, and “Swallowing Scrap Metal (Part
Five)” sound like the soundtrack to some twisted nightmare; There is a dark
beauty to be found within them. Skin Chamber is a side project of Industrial
group Controlled Bleeding, and the influence is obvious. Much like scrap
metal, Skin Chamber’s Trial is hard to swallow, and will
screw up your insides, but it is a quite impressive feat.
Okay,
so John Paul Jones produced the Butthole Surfers’ new album. So what? Is
that supposed to make it good? Independent Worm Saloon has a
couple of fun songs like “Who Was in My Room Last Night”, “The
Annoying Song”, and “The Ballad of Naked Man”, but this is not the Butthole
Surfers. If I want to hear Rock ‘N Roll, I’ll put on K-Rock. And if want to
hear anything from John Paul Jones, I’ll play Led Zepellin’s “Fool in
the Rain”. Catch my drift? Wise up, Surfers or you’ll be shit. You
can tell this is their major label debut because it is neutered. No balls.
Fear
Factory’s new EP Fear Is the Mind Killer is pretty cool. Released
by Roadrunner Records, it features five remixes of their songs by Rhys
Fulber and Bill Leeb of Frontline Assembly. The remixes take these already intense
metal songs into whole new realms, making them sound more like Skinny Puppy
and Pigface. It’s like visiting an alternate reality where Fear Factory became
an Industrial band. There are some great and dark interpretations of their
songs on here. But I would have loved to hear other songs instead of three versions
of “Self Immolation”. I began to resent that song after a while. But overall,
the EP is worth listening to for the radical interpretations and ingenious
lyrics.
I
came across a demo tape by a local, unsigned band named Lament. The
cover of the tape features a beautiful, black & white photograph of an
angel statue, and that is what drew me to the tape. When I played it, I expected to hear some sort
of slow Goth music. Instead, it was a seven-song compilation of well-crafted,
if not a bit stoic, rock music. One song stood above the rest as a potential single,
and that is the eponymous track “Lament”. This song has a catchy guitar
hook, and earnestly endearing vocals. I’ve been humming it constantly since I
first heard it. This band shows promise, and I am interested in monitoring
their musical development.
The
musical event of the year, as far as I am concerned, was the release of a
techno versions of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” by Harajuku.
I was out at a gay club the other night and out of nowhere these creepy Halloween-record
type noises started to play over the sound system. You know what I mean, a creaking
door, a howling wolf, and footsteps. Then the opening melody of “The Phantom
of the Opera” began, and the dancefloor got packed. The original version
was techno-ey enough, but this version dialed that up to eleven and gave the
song just the right beat to become a dance music classic. I have no idea what
or who Harajuku is, but I am curious to see what they do next. I really
hope it’s a techno version of “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” by Ethel Merman. I’d
buy it!
Speaking
of Techno, Sunscreem has released an album titled O,
which is blazing up the dance charts thank to the hit single “Love U
More”. I love this song. It touches me in a sentimental way that sends
shivers down my spine. The album O isn’t half bad either. I mean,
once you’ve heard five techno songs, you’ve heard them all. But this album has
another great single potential in the song “Pressure”. It is catchy as
hell and features the singer’s wispy, Kate Bush-like vocals at their best.
Those two singles alone should make the album worthy of a couple of listens.
Well,
folks, it’s now 4:30 am and I have a dental appointment at 11:30, so I better
get some sleep. As always, it’s been a pleasure being able to talk to you like
this, late at night, completely naked, and listening to 70’s dance classics in
the background. You know, life’s too good. You just have to know when to relax
and enjoy yourself. Man, summer is coming soon. I can feel it. I look forward
to the freedom from responsibility that summer brings. This one will be nothing
but late nights and mellow mornings. But for now, I must drift off into sweet
slumber. Too bad you are not here for me to curl up next to. I hate sleeping
alone.
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