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Combichrist

We Love You

Written by: BW on 14/02/2014 00:41:52

Combichrist are responsible for one of the best and one of the worst moments in my rock club life. I always enjoyed getting my groove on when “This Sh*t will F**k You Up” played and it was always a track I loved hearing most of the time. The same cannot be said for “This is my Rifle” which did my head in when I heard it at any point, so curiosity has led me to their new album, “We Love You” to see what we can expect next from the electronic hardcore metal masters.

“We Love You” is not a nice and easy trip into what you may be used to. From the off you are screamed at and the ferocity is constant, especially in the first track “We Were Made to Love You” It is a brutal attack on the senses and sort of lays down a statement of intent from Andy LaPlegua and the rest of the band in that we are coming back with such force that you’d best join us or stay out of the way. The screaming work is full of anger and there is more guitar work than electronic instruments than I’m used to with Combichrist, but as an eye opener, it works very well.

“Every Day is War” is typical Combi though. It has that catchy floor filling beat with some slightly more restrained vocals, but with enough hatred to add fire to the track. This is one of the better songs off the album as far as I’m concerned because it checks all the boxes that the fans expect and will no doubt be learnt by club goers very quickly.

I think the best way to describe “Can’t Control” would be to take Corey Taylor in his Slipknot head and get him to sing to something from the Chemical Brothers and the result would be something similar to this. The beat is very old school, but then you add the metalcore vocals and it gives it a different stance to your usual dance track.

As the rest of the album plays on I begin to admire the musical work that has went into this new album. “Maggots at the Party” rocks it with some nice guitar riffs mixed in with the electronics, “The Evil in Me” keeps it stripped down with a guitar and solitary piano note to begin with, before almost bursting into a tune that would sound perfect with a Rammstein vocal set on it.

The experimentation on “We Love You” is there for all to see and all of those noises and beats are exactly what you would expect. “From My Cold Dead Hands” is the closest to the older material that a lot of fans are used to and can show that the ingredients are there to make something fabulous. It’s also the closest thing to being the perfect track off the album.

I think what I’m trying to say is that musically it is very much the way you would want Combichrist to go and that part of things sounds bloody marvellous. However, the vocal work just doesn’t work for me. The screaming of LePlegua just doesn’t seem to make the album sit right. Just in case I was being a bit hasty I decided to go and listen to the whole of “Everybody Hates You” just to make sure I wasn’t going crazy. It only went to cement my thoughts. That album is everything I love about this band rolled up into one package.

For me though the screaming vocal just doesn’t suit this album, at least for the amount that it’s in it. I do believe there is a time and place for that style and in the right place it is brilliant, as it busts the emotions of a song up to a higher level, but here it only leaves me with a confused look on my face and also one of disappointment because I can see the greatness underneath, but it feels like a missed opportunity. It says in the description that there is more anger, which I can’t argue about, but I think there is so much of it on this record that it may have to go to counselling to help it out in its moment of pain. The fact I’m shaking my head as I finish this review probably speaks louder than any review could. A great concept and some really good Combichrist moments, let down by some vocal overkill, which in other styles would work perfectly, but just not here.

Download: From My Cold Dead Hands, Can’t Control, Every Day is War
For The Fans Of: Icon of Coil, Suicide Commando, Grendel, Alien Vampires
Listen: facebook.com

Release Date 25.03.2014
Metropolis Records