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Notable albums selected by ReGen's staff
Posted: Monday, January 01, 2007
By: Nick Garland
Editor

Nick Garland
Editor

If you’re really into music, you’ll probably always say that any year is a good year for music, and that might be true. There is no doubt, however, that a tiny heap of great music is released every year alongside a gigantic landfill full of worthless garbage. We’ve shoveled a little pile of the best of 2006, all recommended by staff members below.

Laibach – Volk
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Laibach would create an album’s worth of “reinterpretations” of national anthems. We all know there’s nothing too political or too taboo for Laibach to criticize, and there’s been quite enough brutality and hypocrisy done in the name of nation-building. Although this album doesn’t come out until February in the United States, it came out in Europe last October, so it’s on my list. Will there be a sequel? I could only hope.

Das Ich – Cabaret
Stefan Ackermann and Bruno Kramm never cease to scare Americans (and Canadians) with their pounding rhythms and Teutonic guttural growls and shrieks (auf Deutsch). Cabaret has somewhat of a carnival atmosphere that makes it seem fun, while at the same time sinister. Is the little kid who speaks in “Atemlos” marveling at the circus or begging for his life? Nonetheless, it was a fun ride.

The Retrosic – Nightcrawler
God of Hell did not impress me in the slightest, so I had very low expectations for a follow-up. Upon listening to the very first song on the album, I knew I was in for a pleasant surprise. While at times the lyrics are somewhat cliché, the songs are sonically some of the most interesting you’ll have heard last year. The video of “Desperate Youth” only helped to raise this album’s wunderbar-ness.

Gary Numan – Jagged
Numan’s Pure and Hybrid marked the revival of Numan as a pioneer in the music scene. While Jagged feels like chapter 2 of Pure, it certainly marks a refinement and solidification of Numan as part of the new (or shall I say nu) industrial rock vanguard.

Lost Signal – Eviscerate
After waiting so many years for the follow-up to Catharsis, no one was ready to be let down. And I wasn’t. Charles Rehill is one hell of a songwriter. Eviscerate is an emotional album that has both frenetic floor-stompin’ songs and slow, beautiful ballads. Ronan Harris, eat your little heart out!

Ilker Yucel
Assistant Editor

Acumen Nation - Anticore
Louder and harder than anything they’ve ever done… THE political album for 2006.

KMFDM - Ruck Zuck
A remix EP that was as good, if not better, than the original album. Awesome versions solidifying KMFDM’s place as one of industrial music’s finest acts.

Hecate - Brew Hideous
Breakcore meets black metal, bursting with dark erotic energies. Possibly Hecate’s best album and surely one of the most unique in the genre.

Android Lust - Devour, Rise, and Take Flight
Less abrasive, though no less intense, Android Lust explores a wide range of melodic synthesis, surpassing her past work.

The Unquiet Void - The Shadow-Haunted Outside
The second in a trilogy of albums dedicated to H.P. Lovecraft evokes the author’s works with some of the strangest and most horrifying alien soundscapes ever recorded.

Matthew Johnson
Associate Editor

Current 93 - Black Ships Ate the Sky
Current 93's most epic release since the Inmost Light trilogy, this is both intense and beautiful. Featuring a parade of guest stars that ranges from Marc Almond and Cosey Fanny-Tutti to avant-garde folksinger Bonnie "Prince" Billy, this album highlights David Tibet's unique voice and gnostic imagery with understated acoustic arrangements while also incorporating bits of distorted guitars and tape loops that hearken back to Current 93's roots in the early industrial scene. 

Legendary Pink Dots - Your Children Placate You from Premature Graves
While the Legendary Pink Dots' blend of goth, industrial, and psychedelia hardly has universal appeal, this album is one of their finest and most subtle. Lead singer Edward Ka-Spel is more somber than spaced out this time around, and delicate arrangements backed by quiet electronic murmurings and dreamlike saxophones give songs like "The Island of Our Dreams" and "Peace of Mind" an eerie beauty.

Tor Lundvall - Empty City
More soundscape than song, painter and composer Lundvall's musical depictions of abandoned urban areas achieve a subtle loneliness far more intriguing than the stereotypical apocalyptic gloom often associated with dark ambient music. Somehow, Lundvall's instrumental arrangements of echoing clanks and foghorn drones manage to be even more personal and affecting than his more lyrical compositions.

The Operative - An Adoring Circle of Radical Calamity
The Operative, also known as former STG vocalist Shane Talada, offers the most creative debut album to hit the rhythmic noise scene in quite some time. This release encompasses everything from postmodern metaphysics on "Everything Is Permitted" to disco comedy on "Freek Floor" and brings a sense of offbeat intellectualism to the dance floor.

Covenant - Skyshaper
Deep, dark, and eminently danceable, Covenant's long-awaited sixth studio album continues the techno-inspired minimalism and majestic vocals beloved by fans, but it's the bittersweet ballads like "Happy Man" and "The World Is Growing Loud" that make this release such a memorable one.

Latoya Horen
News Editor

Angelspit – Krankhaus
This Australian duo is on the top of their industrial game! The music is right on with crunches and direct lyrics all in the right places. I credit them with opening my ears to the Underground of Down Under.

The Retrosic – Nightcrawler
Although we had to wait a little longer this year for this one, it was well worth it. They are an angry act and I love them for it. The Retrosic know how to combine elements and emotions to create music that defines a generation of forgotten people.

Manufactura - We're Set Silently on Fire
This release will cover you in a blanket of stabbing rhythm and confusion. Karloz takes new risks with this album, more intense than ever, with poetry not for the faint of heart. Take the swim, you'll be glad you did.

Emilie Autumn – Opheliac
Emilie Autumn possesses a sugary sweet, but dark voice that will draw you in. Her lyrics keep you interested, combining with the twisted classical-industrial music to deliver a hard-to-forget album.

Psyclon Nine -Crwn Thy Frnicatr
If it is even possible, Psyclon Nine return with even more wicked album than before. They're not concerned with fitting in with the club night genre and that is what makes this one of the most refreshing releases of the year.

DJ Morgana
Podcast Director

Steril - Realism
Steril doesn't let you down with this hard-thumpin' part German/part English industrial kick to the impulsive rhythm-stomping area of our heavy and dark electronic music-lovin’ brains. Five letters for Realism: R-U-L-E-S.

Apoptygma Berzerk - You and Me Against the World
Being as I've loved everything ever done by this Norweigan act, I was disappointed to hear the move towards a more polished "rock" sound upon first listen. But after a mere two or three listens, the songs made their imprint and I've been hooked ever since. I love the catchy, melodic choruses and I love the pop electronics.

Dismantled - Standard Issue
I was so pleasantly surprised by this release because it gave me what I love the most: danceable EBM that I can sing along to and never get sick of (with the possible exception of the single "Breed to Death"). It has sarcastic and fitting lyrics about the industrial music scene and the state of today's world. An all-around hit!

Massiv in Mensch - Clubber Lang
This release took many listens to grow on me and become as beloved as Massiv in Mensch's past releases. It's catchy, fun and energetic, and it does appear that over and over again, Daniel just puts together noises and sound bytes that sound great and just go so well together. The attention to detail and meticulous production is impossible to miss.

Anders Manga - Left of an All Time Low
This band came from out of nowhere and already has three popular releases and their own unique sound. A great flavor of ‘80s flair with some great EBM sounds, this album has songs that linger in my head joyously for days.

Nate Rand
Staff Writer

Various Artists - Exponential Presents Collapsing Culture
Collapsing Culture is an excellent compilation of jazzy, relaxed, urban soundscapes with a playful veneer and a sinister edge.  The perfect compliment to a solitary afternoon spent smoking cigarettes, drinking bourbon, and pondering where it all went wrong…

Rosemary’s Babies - Talking to the Dead
Talking to the Dead is horror punk at its furious, sloppy, drunk, blood-spewing best. Buried since ’81, this cathartic little darling got exhumed this year to hopefully be devoured by starving fans of genuine gore rock in a post-Misfits world. 

Nerve Filter - Linear
Tom Shear’s (of Assemblage 23 fame) side project Nerve Filter delivered a fantastic album this year with Linear, and succeeded in creating a multi-faceted listening experience that drives itself along at a breakneck pace. Not to be missed be any who want to hear high energy industrial at the peak of its power.

Taxim - Ecclesiophobia
Ecclesiophobia is for those who thought they didn’t make ‘em like that anymore.  Angry, whipcrack fast, anti-authoritarian, and more evil than your least favorite relative hopped up on a cocktail of methamphetamines and liquid LSD. 

Netherworld - Lost
Lost could be described as a terrifying experience, but that would not be doing it justice.  This ritualistic, unnerving, and wholly immersive experience will have you shaking in your shoes long after the final drone dies out, yet no one else this year has come this close to making aural Hell a soothing listen.  Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!

Damon Wilson
Staff Writer

Various Artists – A Mere Invention of the Idle Mind
A Mere Invention of the Idle Mind compiled by the Los Angel based MECHaNISMz label in collaboration with Auricle and Crunch Pod.  An excellent sampling covering subgenres from drill’n’bass to rhythmic power noise featuring well established artist and fresh faces.

Emilie Autumn - Opheliac
Opheliac by the other girl in anachronism, Emilie Autumn.  Though she has labeled her music “Victoriandustrial” this reviewer finds this album to be about as damn close to the audible version of literary term “Steam Punk” as one can find. You get the impression Emilie would not only be up for a debate on the topic, but is more than equipped to win.

De/Vision - Subkutan
De/Vision’s Subkutan found the band exploring the high and lows of emotions to some of their strongest material to date. Their signature sound is still intact yet feels fresh and vibrant.

Endif - Meta
The freshmen full-length release from EndIf titled Meta introduced the noise scene to a programming master and sonic sculpting shifu. Jason Hollis easily “one-ups” the rest by simply doing his thing.  A process he describes as “mulch/edit/assemble/refine”.

Halou – Wholeness & Separation
Wholeness and Separation from Halou brings this list to a blissful and beautiful close.  Simply stated this album is exquisite.  At times it is delicate and ethereal, at other times it is grimy and groovy.