SOCIAL MEDIA
SEARCH
Login
NEWSLETTER
WHO'S ONLINE
There are 224 unlogged users and 1 registered user online.
You can log-in or register for a user account here.
You can log-in or register for a user account here.
REVIEWS
Buy this album from iTunes
Underground
Mental
I Love My Chains
Instar
New World
The Day I Died
Slice
Alakor
Demain N'existe Pas
Idols
Something You Hate
Elektrostal
Krystal Song
RELATED REGEN LINKS
NEWS
REVIEWS
Krystal System
Underground
Alfa Matrix
Posted: Thursday, January 22, 2009
By: Trubie Turner
By: Trubie Turner
A bold and effortless mix of industrial, coldwave, metal, and indie rock that is hopefully the first of many releases from this French duo.
The debut album from Parisian duo, Krystal System, Underground is a powerful statement from this fledgling group. Overflowing with attitude and creativity, Krystal System mixes a wide variety of genres and styles with an overall unpolished sound that works very much to their favor, giving them a grounded, gritty, indie rock feel that conjures memories of the early work of bands such as The Young Gods or the short lived Al Jourgensen projects Pailhead or 1,000 Homo DJs during the glory days of Wax Trax!.
From start to finish, Underground offers a wide variety of mood and compositional style with everything tied together by the exemplary, mostly female vocals delivered by Bonnie, as well as the occasional vocal contributions of the male half of Krystal System, N° 7. Though the leadoff track, "Underground" is a bit basic and doesn't do much in the way of genre-bending with it being a fairly straightforward EBM track, with the industrial rock follow-up track "Mental", it quickly becomes apparent that Krystal System has no fear of mixing things up. On the track "Slice," Bonnie dances between sultry and no nonsense punk styled vocals that shine in this spunky high spot and the deliciously electro tinged "Demain N'existe Pas" as well as the mellow "New World" show some of the best male and female vocal interplay of the album. However, it is "Elektrostal" that stands out as one of the most brilliant and memorable tracks of the album; carrying with it an unholy blend of industrial rock, punk, and a subtle splash of hip-hop, the result is simply a blissful blending and bending of convention. Unfortunately, there are also the tracks "Alakor," and to a lesser extent, "Idols," that come across as a little muddled and in need of better structuring, but thankfully these are only two small scuffs on a gem of an album.
Though some may find Krystal System's somewhat rough sound to be a detriment, the vast majority are more likely to find them to bring a certain old-school charm and the approach gives some occasionally rudimentary rhythms and arrangements much more bite than they would ever have otherwise, especially when coupled with the gravitas the vocal performances carry with them. Though there is definitely room for improvement, this is an album of attitude that carries with it a weight and bravado that make it very hard to resist.
From start to finish, Underground offers a wide variety of mood and compositional style with everything tied together by the exemplary, mostly female vocals delivered by Bonnie, as well as the occasional vocal contributions of the male half of Krystal System, N° 7. Though the leadoff track, "Underground" is a bit basic and doesn't do much in the way of genre-bending with it being a fairly straightforward EBM track, with the industrial rock follow-up track "Mental", it quickly becomes apparent that Krystal System has no fear of mixing things up. On the track "Slice," Bonnie dances between sultry and no nonsense punk styled vocals that shine in this spunky high spot and the deliciously electro tinged "Demain N'existe Pas" as well as the mellow "New World" show some of the best male and female vocal interplay of the album. However, it is "Elektrostal" that stands out as one of the most brilliant and memorable tracks of the album; carrying with it an unholy blend of industrial rock, punk, and a subtle splash of hip-hop, the result is simply a blissful blending and bending of convention. Unfortunately, there are also the tracks "Alakor," and to a lesser extent, "Idols," that come across as a little muddled and in need of better structuring, but thankfully these are only two small scuffs on a gem of an album.
Though some may find Krystal System's somewhat rough sound to be a detriment, the vast majority are more likely to find them to bring a certain old-school charm and the approach gives some occasionally rudimentary rhythms and arrangements much more bite than they would ever have otherwise, especially when coupled with the gravitas the vocal performances carry with them. Though there is definitely room for improvement, this is an album of attitude that carries with it a weight and bravado that make it very hard to resist.
