As if the Halloween festivities are not enough, October 2005 will go down in history for having the most goth/industrial shows in a single month in the SLC. Wednesday, Oct. 12, Metropolis act Mindless Self Indulgence stops at the Lo-Fi Café on their You’ll Rebel to Anything Tour. SLUG’s Localized will showcase Die Monster Die with Twilight Transmissions on Friday, Oct. 14.

Plan your night well because you’ll want to rock out with your goth out at The Cruxshadows, Ego Likeness and Redemption show at Area 51 on that same night. Genitorturers whip the locals into shape with their risqué stage show on Monday, Oct. 17 at Club Vegas. Don’t wear yourself out just yet. Terrorfakt, E-Craft and Mono No Aware are going to do some damage with harsh rhythm-noise and EBM on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at Club Vegas. Friday, Oct. 21 is the Brainwash Cinema Halloween Ball at The Murray Theater with the final show of Little Sap Dungeon, the first performance in two years from Boundless as well as performances from Twilight Transmissions and The Convention.

I encourage you to go to as many as possible; lack of support will lead to a drought in shows; and that makes baby Jesus cry. Also, tickets are on sale for the Revolting Cocks and Ministry show for May 14th at The Velvet Room. Yes, I just mentioned a show for May of 2006. Yes, I will mention it again in April.

 

K.M.F.D.M.

Hau Ruck

Metropolis Records

Street: 09.13

KMFDM = Sasha Konietzko + rock star guitar + slutty vocals

Guitars and female vocals are at the top of my list of things I hate in industrial. It takes a special act to get away with it, and KMFDM gets by with the skin of their teeth to make them a guilty pleasure. This act has been around for just over 20 years now, and either you love the old stuff and hate the new or vice-versa. I hate the guy/girl that says, “I’m old school,” but I have to be that guy/girl here.

Hau Ruck has a going-back-to-our-roots feeling, and even Sascha Konietzko admits to exchanging his new gear with the analog stuff for a fresh approach. I have mixed feelings about these acts that adjust their sound to appeal to a larger audience. KMFDM is a “career” band who survive by making music and I can’t fault them for that, but they managed to lose fans, such as myself, along the way. Since the 1995 release of Nihil, I have yet to fall back in love with one of my early industrial favorites. Hau Ruck is for the casual industrial/metal/novelty listener, not for prissy music snobs who write about Industrial music.

 

Negative Format

Moving Past the Boundaries

Metropolis Records

Street: 09.27

Negative Format = Lassigue Bendthaus + Trance – redundancy

Negative Format has always stood out among the clutter of EBM wanna-be’s and clichéd Industrial acts. Solid techno and EBM melodies laced with hypnotic trance are not only unique, but hold a quality that so many musicians lack regardless of the genre. This time the tempo’s are less throbbing and female vocals make for a nice swirly-girly touch on “Sustain” and “Centralized”.

Like Delerium, Negative Format mixes danceable yet soothing blends of female vocals for dreamy moods while not sacrificing a masculine sound. In the Negative Format tradition, minimal usage of vocals and samples level out to focus on the crisp quality of electronics on Moving Past the Boundaries. Negative Format is on my top ten list of underrated acts that everyone should be listening to.

 

Funker Vogt

Navigator

Metropolis

Street: 09.05

Funker Vogt = War + Natural Disaster + Formulated beats & chants

Three years would give any musician time to reevaluate themselves, make changes, improvements and to evolve into a new and better entity. That wasn’t the case with Funker Vogt. After the Execution Tracks it went downhill, but then Survivor hit and it didn’t seem like the painted-into a corner sound could get worse. As expected, war and natural disasters only fueled their inspiration to rehash what they had already done _– again.

Negativity aside, there are a couple of catchy songs, like “Fallen Hero” and “Thoughts of a Soldier.” But when lyrics start, “They call me a the tragic hero…” I just want to shake them and say, “enough already”. Navigator is a slight improvement of the past, but Funker Vogt needs to learn to do something new and not keep on making the same song over and over.

 

Lexincrypt

This Descent

DSBP

Street: 09.06

Lexincrypt = An ex-Modus Operandi writer + Hocico + hate x 100

A very long three years has passed since My Sepulture came out and the long-awaited This Descent is now a reality. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely. Just when you thought Lexincrypt couldn’t get any darker, he did. One fan even confesses that he cannot listen to this music in the fall and winter months due to Seasonal Affective Disorder and the possibility of Lexincrypt just sending him over the edge. Is that a compliment? “Beginning of the End” and “One Way to Escape” are deceptive with beautifully evil and catchy melodies to kick off the album.

Once “Crawlspace” starts (with guest vocals by Scott Sturgis of Converter/Pain Station fame) you have sunk to the depths and you get trapped in the filthy muddle of sample-filled hate. This former Salt Lake resident makes a significant progression into a second album with more aggression and precision, but sadly this is the last that you will hear from Lexincrypt, so eat it up. Like a hot sauce connoisseur, if you thought you could handle that hate of Hocico, try to take on something more advanced with Lexincrypt.