“Wax Wings Will Burn” is the third full-length album from SHIV-R. The duo comprised of Pete Crane and Ben Bulig has carved out a name as an “elegant yet hard-hitting” force in the industrial landscape with club-staples such as “Parasite” and “Pharmaceutical Grade” haunting alternative dancefloors the world over.
The lyrical themes of “Wax Wings Will Burn” are indeed inspired by its Icarus-themed title; the triumphs and trials hang like artificial wings that give hope in the possibility of feats no mortal could achieve, or weigh heavily towards the ground. SHIV-R as an entity is above all a self-made monster created from nothing, just like any individual who chooses an alternative lifestyle instead of the default life-path presented by the mainstream.
SHIV-R confirms its status from the first track on as Asylum is a great and very modern sounding electro-industrial bomb filled with emotions and scary dreams. It starts very delicately, but explodes from time to time, burst and fade, burst and fade! You get the real feel about the Asylum, just stay sane after this one and endure the rest of this scary trip! I sense an influence coming from Nine Inch Nails. I like Pet’s vocals. More horror comes with Monster! The foot stomping beats, the acoustic touch and the melancholic voice gives it all a special sound. I can see this track raving during a concert! Eye of the Needle gives us more and harder beats, is more up-tempo. Feels like a bad ass clubber with a spooky sound! The mixing gives it a well worked out and well elaborated sound! Territory is a slow one, the lyrics are more important than the beats and the tempo: it feels like the living of a bad story mixed with bad chemicals. Wolves contains great lyrics and a great punch line ‘No matter how fast light travels it finds that darkness always got there first and is waiting for it’ and great beats. This track might even end up on a lot of DJ-playlists. Don’t let yourself be miss lead by the positive vibe! Chemicals is a great clubber, so don’t stand still and let yourself go! Show your hands and let the beats take control over your body, just like the chemicals in this track! Dance the Apocalypse is another slow one, where once again the lyrics are more important than the beats and the tempo. You have to feel the vibe and undergo the story to enjoy this one completely. Of the Machine is darker and sounds as aggressive and as strong as the newest Nitro/Noise. Shadow with a voice is an up-tempo lead by a computer voice and a screaming monster. Some of the beats sound a bit retro (the kind I love, no worries). I hear some Marilyn Manson influences and Fortification 55. Blood Rose (Transfused) is a strange ballad, sadly the vocals are not always as clean as I’m used to hear them. It might be conceptual, as indeed the story is not of the most happy side and most romantic side of life. It’s what I would call a negative ballad, a desperate cry in the dark knowing there is no help and no light at the end of the tunnel … Payload reminds me a bit of XP8 and at some point it even sounds as a fake duet, due to the overflow of Pete’s voice. Once again the negative flow takes over and makes it a sick song with great beats! Hell, yeah, this sounds like SHIV-R taking over the dead corpse of XP8! It’s a great clubber (like so many tracks on this album). Retina is a clubber with a certain Marilyn Manson feel. Sometimes I get the impression that increasing the tempo a little bit more could make it sound slightly better, but who am I to suggest this? Lifelike is the last track and carries a spooky/horror sound with the Marilyn Manson vocals, breakbeats and the awakening of all the monsters from the previous tracks. Don’t expect a big boom, you just get sucked very slowly into the darkness!
It’s clear for me: SHIV-R has its own sound and created a dark world filled with pain, disillusions, nightmare’s ….
Tracks:
01. Asylum
02. Monster
03. Eye of the Needle
04. Territory
05. Wolves
06. Chemical
07. Dance the Apocalypse
08. Of the Machine
09. Shadow With a Voice
10. Blood Rose (Transfused)
11. Payload
12. Retina
13. Lifelike
