54 minutes, 29 seconds

Eden Synthetic Corps
Matte

"Hellektro" is apparently what they're calling the subgenre of industrial music that features ridiculously distorted vocals, obscenely harsh beats, and, um, let's say monstrous horror-movie samples. Oh, wait, didn't Skinny Puppy do this sort of thing 20 years ago? Never mind, it's been reinvented by Hocico, Amduscia, Agonoize, and Eden Synthetic Corps.

ESC is apparently a four-man project from Portugal whose previous incarnation was as a heavy-metal band. Makes sense, in many ways, although I hate heavy metal and get uncomfortable when I'm forced to face the fact that a lot of industrial (particularly "hellektro," if that's what you want to call it) shares a good deal in common with metal. The instrumentation may be different, but the end result often isn't. And that's a bit depressing to admit.

I guess I cling to the notion that electronic music is more about what you can do with your brain and not what you can do with your hands. In other words, it takes virtuosity out of the picture--you don't need to be a musician, per se, to create this kind of music. It helps to understand musical composition, of course, but industrial has never produced an electronic equivalent to, say, Eddie Van Halen or Eric Clapton. And thank God it hasn't. There's nothing more boring than a guitar solo. Except maybe a drum-machine solo.

And that seems to be where metal and industrial part ways--metal is basically rock music, played with rock instruments. Industrial is...well, I don't really know what it is, and I think that's why I like it. It opens up more possibilities. It's like the difference between live theater and film. Both are important, but film just expands the known universe so much more.

I'm getting philosophical, I know. It's because I'm bored at work.

Also today:

54:28 Sol Invictus, All Things Strange and Rare
54:27 Hedningarna, Hippjokk
54:23 Bio-Tek, Darkness My Name Is
54:23 Non-Aggression Pact, Broadcast-Quality Belligerence
54:23 Stella Maris, Stella Maris
54:21 Triarii, Pièce Héroique
54:20 In Strict Confidence, Where Sun and Moon Unite
New arrival! 63:13 Soman, Mask