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Artist: MXD
Album: Frustration Is Fuel
Year: 2005
When a band describes itself as beeing ‘at the crossroad
between the dance know-how of the Chemical Brothers, the
brutal power of Rammstein and the experimental
synthetics of the Young Gods’, what can a stranger
expect? The answer is the ‘Frustration Is Fuel’ record
of the Swiss band MXD. Equilibre Music, known for its
original releases of Crack ov Dawn and Zuul FX for
example, released this record upon mankind in 2005.
With a description like the one in the biography that I
stated above, I knew that this would be pretty
experimental. And that is already the way to describe
this album in one word. The first track, ‘Roxygen’, is
catchy as Hell and is a perfect opener for an album like
this. The beats are flying around your ears, while the
catchy chorus (“Let the feet control your brain”) gets
stuck in your head for the next three hours. The vocals
remind me in a way to Fear Factory and in another way to
Samael. ‘B-Trial’ is I think a more personal song. The
story told in the lyrics is one that most of us might
have experienced already in our lives, that a friend
becomes a lover and in the end turns out to be nothing
more than good friends. The song itself is less powerful
and with more synths. ‘Fuel’ continues to walk on the
path of the opening track: catchyness and brutality
mixed with danceable beats. With short journeys to the
dance metal of Unk!, this song shows potential of a
dancefloor killer in alternative clubs. ‘Ictus’ is a
more harsh song when it comes to the beats. Add some
sampling that is used many times in songs of Apoptygma
Berzerk and you will get the point. ‘Urban Desert’
(track 5 with a lenght of exactly 5 minutes!) is maybe
the less danceable song, but this does not mean that it
is a bad song. Deep vocals with some atmospheric
sampling make this song to an easy listening and
relaxing one. The Rammstein influences of this band are
getting more clearly with the only song in German of
this record, ‘Hockenheim’. A perfect mix between
Rammstein’s ‘Mutter’ era and the old KMFDM is shown to
us with this song. And of course, the sample of a F1 car
makes sure that they do not forget the lyrics as well!
After the instrumental dance metal track ‘Megadrive’,
MXD decided to put a cover of Killing Joke named
‘Pandemonium’. I dont know the original, but it is a
fact that this song doesnt sound like a cover at all,
which makes it a good cover. ‘Sweet & Sour’ is more
focused on the dance influences. In my opinion it is the
darkest song of the record, which could make this song
become very loved in the gothic scene. ‘WIDKW’ is more
easy listening and catchy again. Some robotic sampling
mixed with the already wellknown beats make this song a
good one again. ‘Week-End Bizarre’ is a pure dance metal
track again, with some little drum n bass and techno
influences. And after the over 7 minutes outro ‘A
Meaning Of Life’ this album ends, and I cant resist to
the urge to put it on again! Metal music and dance music
already had been stabbed in the back by bands like
MortIIs and Ministry and nowadays by new talented bands
like Unk!, Reel, Xe-None and Mes In Je Rib. This Swiss
band joins them with ease, and when it comes to
songwriting I even dare to say that they own most of
them! For fans of the mentioned bands a must! Now if you
will exuse me, I am dancing. Let the feet control your
brain!
Vote: 92 / 100
Review by: Gerardo |
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01. Roxygen
02. B-Trial
03. Fuel
04. Ictus
05. Urban Desert
06. Hockenheim
07. Megadrive
08. Pandemonium
09. Sweet & Sour
10. W.I.D.K.W
11. Week end bizzare
12. A meaning of life |
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