Alien Vampires releases a brand new full CD in November, after what feels like an eternity (of only a few EP’s)! The title Drag You To Hell sets the tone and says it all, so you are warned about what to expect! Fans of Dark Electro, Industrial/Metal and EBM will be very much pleased by this one!
Jan L (X-Music Production) did the mastering: he knows how to work with the band and get the best result, it ain’t the first time that I can rave about his work! Our vampires still bring the best of their raving industrial/metal, but they also managed to work together this time with artists such as Attila Csihar (charismatic vocalist of cult black metal act Mayhem and SUNN0)))), the two-time Grammy nominated Sin Quirin (guitarist from Ministry), Nero Bellum (vocalist of US aggrotech band Psyclon Nine) and last but not least, guitarist Charles Edward (Mayhem).
If the dark and mystic opening track The Divinity Of Solitude (with the Marilyn Manson influence: the monstrous vocals, heavy guitars and raffling drums …: to be honest I expected a big boom towards the end) definitely sets the overall tone of the album with the intense dark and hateful voice of Attila Csihar (Mayhem & SUNN O)))), the very catchy & clubminded She Owns The Nite (Lilith) sets the perfect balance between Alien Vampires’ characteristic upbeat industrial sound and its harsh electro sequences and the black metal guitars which enrich their sound (I adore the clean voice, here). Another club hit but with a more melancholic sound is You Wish Me Dead Get In Line (listen to the catchy chorus). I can even hear some influences from Diorama, Suicide Commando and VNV Nation (the mix of it all is what lifts this to a higher level)! Listen to the bluesy guitar around the 5 minutes timer, the relaunch could have been a little smoothe; it feels a bit too brutal. Another full-frontal assault on the dancefloors is All The Fakes Must Die (great title track, BTW): can't you smell the roaring beats and bass? The vocal fight between grunting and screaming is just perfect for this one! Drag You To Hell is a great mix between metal/grunting and beats reworked into a symphonic harmony! It sounds a bit like Zardonic remixing The Unguided! Psycho Bitch, with clearly real drums and contains Ministry’s guitarist (Sin Quirin) in a duet with Mayhem’s guitar player (Charles Edward)! Metal fans will absolutely adore it, just as fans of the named guitar players! Sworn To The Lust has more beats, up-tempo and is really club-minded or to say it in very few words: a typical Alien Vampires track! The little wink towards Suicide Commando in the end is great! The dark techno mixed with up-tempo EBM from Lock It is yet another dancefloor assault. Touch plays it on a higher level with a sun bursting industrial-rave. Allow yourself to be hypnotized and erotized by the female vocals! Towards the end you really want to touch them and you know what I mean! If you are not sweating yet, after all these assaults, you must be either stone cold or dead! You Rule I cum is also a raver, but with a Marilyn Manson-touch on the vocals. A low tempo electro track with a harsh voice and screamer is Undivided Wholeness, featuring the vocals by special guest Nero Bellum of Psyclon Nine. The lyrics are very hard to understand due to the harsh screaming. The stomping beats are very fast backed up by a more Eurobeat sound. I would have cut down the song to 3:52, that would have kept it stronger (judge for yourself). More dark techno comes with Dark Energy, starting with a New Wave-feel and slowly changing into a modern track with a higher tempo and more beats. I feel the potential of this one, but somehow this little extra bit is missing (yet I think a good remix could fix that). More sensational is No Return From Where I Am Going on which Charles Edward (Mayhem) brings us black metal mixed into an industrial sound: a great fight between metal, melody and beats! Better Enemies Than Friends brings us back into the rave! Great techno sound, roaring synths and loud beats! The party is getting a big bang with this one! Let yourself go! Unleash the dancefloor beast! You have been infected by and alien and are forced to dance until you die! Unidentified is the last bomb track, the tempo is a bit slower but that’s all! I think that the fans can be happy and new fans can be bound by this one! The future looks bright for our Alien Vampires!
I hope they improve the visuals of their live shows a bit, so that everybody can enjoy them on stage as they produced a great album that asks for club land and stages all over the world! Let them multiply!
The album is also available in a deluxe 2CD carton box limited edition with some special Alien Vampires fan-goodies and the exclusive bonus disc featuring nothing less than 16 bonus cuts including alternative versions of album songs and a few remixes, plus 6 versions of the non-album track All The Fakes Must Die and the final tortured exclusive track I Love Death More Than Life. Selected remixers count among others acts like XOTOX, C-LEKKTOR, AVARICE IN AUDIO, ISZOLOSCOPE, SPEED INJEKTION and many more.
TRACK-LISTING
CD 1
01. The Divinity Of Solitude [ feat. Attila Csihar from MAYHEM/SUNN O))) ]
02. She Owns The Nite [ Lilith ]
03. You Wish Me Dead Get In Line
04. All The Fakes Must Die
05. Drag You To Hell
06. Psycho Bitch [ feat. Sin Quirin from MINISTRY & Charles Edward from MAYHEM ]
07. Sworn To The Lust
08. Lock It
09. Touch
10. You Rule, I Cum
11. Undivided Wholeness [ feat. Nero Bellum from PSYCLON NINE ]
12. Dark Energy
13. No Return From Where I Am Going [ feat. Charles Edward from MAYHEM ]
14. Better Enemies Than Friends
15. Unidentified
CD 2 bonus disc only available in the limited carton box edition
01. All The Fakes Must Die [XOTOX remix]
02. All The Fakes Must Die [ISZOLOSCOPE remix]
03. All The Fakes Must Die [NOIZ+ZILENTH remix]
04. All The Fakes Must Die [GOD DESTRUCTION remix]
05. You Wish Me Dead Get In Line [T3RR0R 3RR0R remix]
06. Unidentified [AVARICE IN AUDIO remix]
07. Unidentified [C-LEKKTOR remix]
08. Unidentified [MADMANCIRCUS remix]
09. All The Fakes Must Die [BENJAMIN’S PLAGUE remix]
10. Unidentified [TERRORFREQUENZ remix]
11. You Wish Me Dead Get in Line [STEREO SIN remix]
12. You Wish Me Dead Get in Line [SLEETGROUT remix]
13. All The Fakes Must Die [SPEED INJEKTION remix]
14. You Wish Me Dead Get In Line [AV guitars mix feat. Charles Edward from MAYHEM]
15 Undivided Wholeness [AV dark mix feat. Nero Bellum from PSYCLON NINE]
16. I Love Death More Than Life
