Gothic metal | Industrial | Metal
85%
Recorded at Invisible Sound Studios. Produced by Twenty Ripped Angel and Dave Nachodsky. Engineered by Dave Nachodsky. Released on Lime Records, 2004.
Website
Information gleaned from elsewhere, I hope it’s correct.
This review has been a long time coming. I don’t think I’ve listened to an album to review quite as often as this one. There’s been a lot going down in my life just now on many levels, so I’ve been somewhat rather preoccupied with those things and not my CD collection. I’m playing catch-up once again.
But this has been a rather special CD to have as the soundtrack to these, at times, dark days. Days full of night, indeed.
Twenty Ripped Angel, on the giant Venn diagram of metal bands, fall somewhere in the area reserved by Killing Joke, Murder Inc., Circle of Dust (aka Brainchild), Ministry, and Crowforce. This is the human edge to industrial music.
The album opens with Fell spitting out the lyrics “the devil was born in California”. Driving drums, and distorted guitars pound out the track, guitar solos cutting through the audio landscape like circular saws.
“Here comes the losers” (track 2) has a more staccato vibe that reminds me of Murder Inc. It has quite a punk feel to it.
“Somewhere in you” (track 4) has a relentlessly repetitive guitar riff that sounds somewhere between some kind of dangerous high voltage electrical equipment and a power saw. I love tracks like this.
“Beautiful nothing” (track 7) is another track with a terrific quirky riff. “Sixth” (track 9) also bounces you through the song.
That’s the curious thing about album. Just as you are about to dismiss the album as having run out of ideas, and about to label a track as a bit of a filler… it twists and surprises you. There is enough certainly to keep me interested from start to finish.
Even on my first couple of albums it felt like this album had always been in my collection. It just seems to fit somehow. Another keeper.
Review score: 85%