REVIEWS

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Gradual Hate
Asphyxiated World

Hypervoxx Recordings

Posted: Tuesday, February 26, 2008
By: Matthew Johnson
Assistant Editor

Spanish duo Gradual Hate's approach to EBM owes less to the trance and pop influences of recent acts than the heavy mechanized aggression that typified much of the '90s scene. While their quasi-military trappings are intimately familiar to industrial fans (the band has even been known to perform wearing gas masks), the liner notes include a quotation by Michel Foucault, suggesting that band members Avencio DM and Miguel LS have put a lot more thought into their aesthetic than most bands that employ similar effects. The music itself highlights that same thoughtfulness; the duo's style of programming and production doesn't use the latest technological bells and whistles, but DM and LS don't fall into the latest traps either. This is heavily industrialized dance music, full of classic clanking beats and creepy synth pads and devoid of the overly dramatic trance builds or gratuitously comedic samples often used to pander to the club crowd. Tracks like "Wind" and "Broken" are high-BPM stomps, full of reverberating snare hits, apocalyptic keyboard atmospheres, and coldly distorted vocals sure to appeal to fans of Armageddon Dildos or early Suicide Commando. Guitars make an occasional appearance, but never quite reach the spotlight; on the band's signature song, "Gradual Hate," the emphasis is on the bass synth and the darkly cinematic choir pads, not the looping power chords. Though there's not as much musical variety on Asphyxiated World as there could be, a variety of vocal approaches keeps the songs from sounding too much alike. "Suicide" is pure aggression, vocals distorted to a rasp, while "Heaven or Hell" is almost goth, its moody verses adorned with little more than cavernous reverb. "Elektro Radio-Sex-Station" lies somewhere in between, with gravelly, lightly distorted drawls and darkly sexual themes very much in the vein of Leæther Strip's early work. Japanese spoken word artist and avant-garde cyberpunk writer Kenji Siratori, who's been making guest appearances on all kinds of albums lately, shows up on closing track "Reptilian Control," which starts with clipped, robotic vocals and industrial background ambiance before launching into a high-tempo club track. While Gradual Hate's firm stance within the boundaries of the EBM scene makes a massive crossover success unlikely, Asphyxiated World is sure to appeal to purist fans, placing the group alongside fellow contemporary artists like Severe Illusion and Noise Process who are keeping the classic electro/industrial sound alive.