56 minutes, 14 seconds

In Strict Confidence
Cryogenix

When your singer relies heavily on effects, it can be difficult to avoid sounding like many other bands whose singers also rely heavily on the same effects. That may be part of the problem with modern industrial music: For example, often it's hard to tell Amduscia from Agonoize. The vocals have been processed and distorted beyond recognition, and the arpeggiated keyboards and movie samples are more or less interchangeable.

So it's the relatively rare singer who's able to carve out a truly unique space with his voice. And often it's the result of a careful and sparing use of effects, coupled with the vocalist's natural timbre. I'm thinking of Front 242's Jean-Luc De Meyer, Project Pitchfork's Peter Spilles, and In Strict Confidence's Dennis Ostermann.

Ostermann seems to have a naturally deep and gravelly voice, which adds a certain richness to his vocals, sung alternately in German and English. Cryogenix, from 1996, was their debut, and while their overall sound would go on to become slightly poppier, Ostermann's vocal approach wouldn't change that much. His voice remains instantly recognizable as much on 2006's Exile Paradise as on this album.

I also like the fact that he's unafraid to sing in German about half the time. Seems like too many European bands try to write and sing in English (to appeal to the broadest market segment?) and fail to grasp English idiom or pronunciation. The irony is that bands with very German names, song titles, and lyrics often do just as well as or better than their English-wanna-be peers. Einstürzende Neubauten, anyone?

Also today:

56:13 Einstürzende Neubauten, Kollaps
56:11 X Marks the Pedwalk, Meshwork
56:08 Silk Saw, 8 Reports
56:08 Vox, X Chants
56:06 Tamás Kátai, Erika Szobája
56:04 In the Nursery, Prelude
56:00 Angeltheory, Fatal Condition
56:00 Anthesteria, Beyond Nimbostratus
55:58 Absent Minded, Endless Pain
55:58 Attrition, A Tricky Business
55:58 Einstürzende Neubauten, Halber Mensch
55:57 Defcon, Endsong
55:57 E-Craft, Unsocial Themes