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Artist: MUCKRACKERS
Album: [Uckange_4]
Year: 2008
Muckrackers is a band hailing from the Lorraine regions in France. According to their biography, they come from an industrial worker background that was diseased by mass unemployment. Therefore, this band was created as a loud, harsh answer to that unjustice. Inspired by the fields of ruins and urban despair, they decided to name their music 'industrial harsh punk'. The 2008 release blessed with the strange name '[Uckange_4]' is this band's 3rd one, and contains 10 tracks.
The release opens with 'Konkassor'. It's a blasting brutal industrial metal track, with influences from cyberpunk and extreme metal. The track has, besides its brutality, as well a danceable side - like KMFDM often manages to add in their tracks. 'Mono Industrial Mekanism' is a slow, ambient likely track with very dark mechanized sampling and a high level of distortion on the guitars. The track includes French vocal samples. 'Aktion!' opens like the preverious one ended, but it soon evolves into a midtempo industrial metal track, with raw vocal lines, Rammstein likely riffing and insane bashing programming. Overall, this track is the most 'mechanized' one on the record, mixed with the electronic sampling during the guitarless parts. 'Korean Kaos' is a track of pure blasting cyberpunk, mixed with techno and hardcore. The track has an extreme brutal attitude, although it's pretty danceable and the riffing is not super extreme. Think about The Berzerker, but less extreme and more innovative. '[U4]' is the weird title of the next song. It's a heavy distorted slow ambient influenced track, with raw vocals and snoaring guitars. The slow programming works give the song an even sicker attitude. 'Flug' is again a very experimental track. It opens with electronic sampling swapping with heavy guitars, to be followed by insane fast cyberpunk with raw black metal vocals and heavy riffing. The electronic sampling from the beginning returns all over the song, which gives it a more accessable and gentle touch. Overall this song, with it's brutal though 'nicer' parts, turns out to be the best track on the record. 'Kontakt' is a little more uptempo than 'Flug'. It contains bashing industrial programming, hyperactive dark passages and brutal vocal lines and riffing. The insane electronic sampling hidden in the track gives it a more insane attitude. 'Molekulär' comes up next. It has a very dark opening, before it totally explodes in a heavy industrial metal track. It goes from dark passages to outscreaming chorusses, all without losing the original dark atmosphere. 'L79' opens with some kind of movie sample, to be followed by a kickass industrial death metal track which includes some ambient influenced passages. The bashing and devastating programming is totally wicked. 'Blast Furnace Valley' is the final track of the record already. It's an over 15 minutes ambient track, with a very dark and sick atmosphere.
Muckrackers calls their music 'industrial harsh punk'. To be honest, I don't hear much of that punk in it. The sampling might have thin lines to cyberpunk bands such as Punish Yourself and Moshpit, but overall Muckrackers produces extremely brutal industrial metal. In stead, little links to bands such as The Berzerker, Herrschaft, Zardonic and maybe even a little bit Fear Factory can be made. Despite this, Muckrackers has proven to have created an own extravagant style, which shows no compromise and no dependency to any trends or big names within the scene. We definitely need more bands and releases like this!
Vote: 95 / 100
Review by: Gerardo
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1. Konkassor
2. Mono Industrial Mekanism
3. Aktion!
4. Korean Kaos
5. [U4]
6. Flug
7. Kontakt
8. Molekulär
9. L79
10. Blast Furnace Valley
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