Legacy Of Brutality Event

It was a painfully cold Friday night in Islington, but some fiery and ferocious forces were gathering. Lost End, unfortunately, weren't among these forces as they had to pull out at the last minute, but none the less some fiery, loud and scary things were converging. Raaaargh... Liquidation kicked off the evening's entertainment with their take on the electro-beat/distorted guitar sound. With uniformly cyber-oriented clothing and flying dreadlocks galore, this new band sounded kind of like Front 242 with chugging guitar-sound turned up to eleven.

True, some of the tunes seemed a bit too simplistic and samey, and the band didn't move around a whole lot on the stage, but considering this was their first major gig these faults are surely forgivable. The audience reacted warmly, and I'm sure that given time Liquidation could break further away from their influences and realise their full potential.

Interlock followed on with an extreme metal barrage and even more flailing dreads. Despite not being a huge lover of the ultra-heavy rock sound, I've got to admit this energetic boy/girl group did get quite a bit of my adrenalin flowing to the right places. Not as melodic as what had come before, but at times the over-driven guitars would dip and make way for Rob Zombie-style mashed synth moments. Growly, shouty male vocals up against... shouty female vocals! And lots of weird gesturing and rubber outfits all over the stage is never a bad thing.

Needleye are often compared (favorably) to Fear Factory. Which was a bit unfortunate on this particular night, as Fear Factory had decided at short notice to play a gig at the Astoria a few miles away. So then if quite a few people still made it to the Garage, that must be testament to the fact that Needleye have a decent fan-base of their own! Looming out of lots of green-lit smoke, and with their two guitar men standing forward of the stage like a pair of axe-wielding sentries, this lot made an impressively moody entrance. The music can be best described as very violent, yet very slick. A hugely confident and in-your-face performance, that left my ear-drums throbbing for the next 48 hours.

Action Directe, Arkham Asylum, The Sepia & The Chaos Engine @ Camden Underworld, 17/11/01

Another week, another Armalyte Industries organised gig. Of course, it being Saturday and all, we’ve run into the obligatory problems with transportation, and whilst nobody’s flung themselves onto any railway lines this time or planted any bombs, the backlog of traffic from today’s rugby at Twickenham ensures that yours truly is at least an hour or so late for this gig. This gig is the second stage of a ball of thunder that began to roll at the Islington Garage last week, and whilst its still great to see such a forum for new acts, its sad that the crowd gathered is so small compared to that of certain higher profile events.

With first band Action Directe there's something you don't tend to see that much in the industrial music world these days; a band with a really overt political message. Anybody with knowledge of French radicalist movements of the 1970s (now surely that's most of you) will know that a band with this name has to have a pretty far-left agenda. And in case you don't, these Leeds-based industrio-punk boys have Hammer & Sickle flags draped on the stage too.

The music is pretty bass line-driven and seems to bring together a number of European influences from the last decade. The set had no shortage of energy, although the band members themselves didn't move around all that much. Mind you, there were films of hundreds of marching Soviets playing behind them...

No matter the size of the horde in front of them, second act Arkham Asylum deliver a power chord punctuated barrage of electro clatter. Whilst the band’s mode of dress may be more nu metal than the dreads and combats usually favoured at these events, their sound is far more encompassing than any of Kerrang’s current darlings and despite being only a three piece, they ably manage to spread their sounds so that they engulf the entirety of the stage. Whilst the sheer size of their sound is obviously far huger the mere three piece gathered before us, there’s enough energy on display (Mini synth smashed against the wall and all!) alongside some manga film clips and footage of Maggie Thatcher to make us forget that there’s obviously some pre recorded assistance helping the band achieve their goals. The Sex Pistols for NIN fans? Maybe, just maybe.

The Sepia have obviously made an impression somewhere, for despite this being my first contact with the band, they’ve managed to place themselves fairly high on this bill. After the quartet have begun their set it’s easy to see why. For the most part, The Sepia deal with instrumental EBM derived electro rhythms- Imagine a consumer friendly 242 coupled with Martin Gore’s ear for a tune and you’ll find as close a reference point as any to this band’s effect.

Apart from a lone guitarist who only plays on a selection of songs, the band spend most of their time hammering out notes behind keyboards and various forms of equipment which encompass the entirety of the stage. Perhaps the most striking facet of the Sepia is the instrumental nature of much of their work- whilst there are a few select vocals, most of their tracks are so richly woven that the lack of spoken words is hardly noticed, which is most welcome in these times when many musicians betray their obvious talent with poorly conceived lyrics. The Sepia are quite happy to literally let their music speak for them. Yet that which is one of the band’s most obvious features at times works against them. The lack of an obvious front man creates a lack of focus for their performance and with little else to catch our eye, its easy find our view wandering from the stage. Perhaps having the guitarist to the front of the stage and utilising some snappier visuals could solve this. However, these are minor irritations, The Sepia prove themselves a welcome entrant to the industrial dance floor and a guaranteed future headliner.

The Chaos Engine have been a fixture on the alternative scene for so long now it’s easy to forget just how long they have been around, and despite almost half a decade or performance, mainstream recognition still eludes them. The reasons why are a mystery- vocalist Lee H is unique in being one of the few industrial vocalists who can actually sing and despite their nods to heavier noise terror, the band are more than capable songwriters, as proved on their various appearances on Metal Hammer cover mounted CDs and compilations.

If this wasn’t enough they are one of the few electro-derived acts who actually work better in a stage environment. Since we last met the Engine, there have actually been a few changes; Brian Molko-alike Bassist Kelly has departed to be replaced by not only a new bass player but also an additional guitar player. Likewise, the band’s music has moved away from a percussive trad Goth sound to a more feedback charged sensory assault. Lee has also begun to wear skirts (Obviously he prefers a draft!).

The band have also decided to dump their dry ice machine in favour of some snappy CGI visuals. Set-wise they offer a mixture of old favourites such as ‘Nonconformer’ and ‘Lilith’ (One of the few times you’ll have an excuse to wave a lighter about at an industrial gig!) alongside new pieces, including ‘Custom Built for Anger’ from forthcoming LP ‘Escape Ferocity’. The performance is greeted with a hail of applause, but the band, and the others assembled here tonight, deserved far more of the same. How can so many fans of industrial alternative music complain about the lack of bands and gigs when so few of these ‘fans’ can be bothered to actually turn up and support the bands and promoters who are brave enough to stage such events? If we aren’t careful it’ll soon be Britney tributes and retro rave sounds across the board- You have been warned!

As a wise man once noted- be careful of strange men bearing gifts. When this gig give away CD came our way it was easy to be cautious. Fear not, for it was with little reason, as this sampler is worth a thousand over priced maxi singles (Or dodgy NIN remix LPs for that matter!). The Sepia are yet another take on that old EBM industrial ticket, yet rather than take either the predictable metal with bleeps route or the minor key dance direction favoured by so many, the Sepia actually write tunes.

Remember those, the catchy sounds you find you used to find yourself whistling now and again? As has been noticed elsewhere, they’ve learnt a few lessons from the dance floor- most notably in their ethic, which places greater emphasis on the energy created by instrumentation than easily forgotten lyrics.

As we discussed earlier, the band have a good ear for a tune, and this is easily demonstrated on opener ‘Blade’ which gives us a taste for the kind of noise that Cabaret Voltaire or The Human League Mk 1 might have created given today’s technology. Even the obligatory nod to 242 on ‘Hallucinating’ enlivens events to extremes that stretch beyond the industrial dance floor. Contemporary darkwave fare such as ‘Forever Lost’ again brings in enough mysticism to please the black clad faithful, but it’s beat orientated nature opens up the band to a more mainstream consumer.

The Sepia are a hot band with an bright future before them, equally able to please both the electro fan of old and today’s ever cynical industrial kids. Somehow, we don’t think that they’ll be staying strangers for much longer.