Its rare, but it happens every now and then where a band really just eventually finds the inspiration to go from middle of the road to great and that's exactly what Damaged represents. I'm not by any means saying Razed in Black was bad previous to this work, however Romell Regulacion's Razed in Black essentially spent two albums a few EPs as a solid industrial band with the one club hit being Oh My Goth! which is lyrically much better than the title would suggest but honestly if you're around other people and someone either here's that main chorus hit or just sees the title it can be a very embarrassing moment sort of like when you tell some of your friends that you like Pro Wrestling and you have to attempt to explain to them why its actually really good. In an interview I did with Romell after the release of the album he talked about the autobiographical nature of the Damaged as connected to a really difficult relationship/break-up he went through as the inspiration for the album and there's something just about the honesty and pure emotion of this album that really translates as I think it what was able to carry this junior album from the King of the Hawaiian goth/industrial scene to the next level of music making. Though originally more of an industrial band, Damaged has a really interesting mix of the bands signature industrial style mixed with elements of EBM, synthpop, and house. I also love that the elements Regulacion stayed true to the elements of RiB that were good before like prominent guitars mixed into the electro-industrial sound but even stepped that to a higher level in addition to friendlier synths that create a nice contrast to the darker electronic elements. I also really appreciate that Romell used this album as an opportunity to show off more of his vocal work which is just so rich in emotion on tracks like Share This Poison and Come Back To Me. Sonically this is a really complex album with a lot of layers that accompany the layers that go with the kind of situation that Romell clearly had gone through and shows in both the music and lyrics. It can get old listening to albums that focus more on love or breakups specifically so its actually refreshing that you get the full range of emotions here and thoughts like wanting to put the blame on anyone involved at different times, wondering where it all went wrong, reminiscing, and trying to just put things back the way they were. This is just such a heartfelt disc with wonderful music that is touching to listen to while also a great club album with several hits on album. I also really love the length of the songs. There are 11 tracks on the album with a total of just over an hour of music with each song averaging about five minutes, which allows each song really develop and adds for nice moments like the starting of the computer and synths at the beginning of Visions. These little bonuses give the album add another dimension similar to movie sampling but more original, create a narrative to the process, and also allows for breathing room. There are also several really nice appearances by fellow artists and friends of the project including Jay Tye (Soil & Eclipse), Athan Maroulis (Spahn Ranch), Alexys (Inertia), Reza (Inertia and Killing Joke), DJ MissGuided, and RiB contributors Yoshimi Shinozaki and Vicci Neptune. The album comes in a really nice digipak (which fittingly quickly gets damaged) with beautiful artwork and a bonus disc of some really cool remixes. The remixing actually seems like it begins at the end of the first disc which is an alternate version of Never Meant (originally from the album Sacrificed). The remix disc actually begins with another alternate version, this time of the album track Blush. The alternate version isn't really all that different but perhaps even slightly more club friendly (not all that different than a radio edit). The second track is a remix of Leave It All Behind by Romell that really shows off his remix skills as one of the more consistent remixers in the goth/industrial scene. Though normally his remixes can often be much clubbier more spastic versions I think he knows his music so well that instead we get these amazing 80's style synths layered over a track that was already really solid on its own. The Eve of Destiny remix of I'll Damage You and Soil & Eclipse remix of Am I 2 Blame? are pretty standard club mixes and actually not terribly interesting but sandwiched on the CD between them is really the crown jewel which is the Assemblage 23 remix of Visions. I challenge anyone to find a better remixer in Goth/Industrial than Tom Shear of Assemblage 23 (and he's certainly one of the top remixers in electronic music or music period). Tom really breaks down a song, understands what it does, and then gives his take on what he'd like to see done with it. If a band plays similar music to him then I feel like he makes sure to give the song he's remixing as different a take as possible and I think that is the excellent result we get with this track that is just so distinct with that amazing synth line throughout the song. I'm not sure whether I like the original version of Visions better or this remix but I would love to see Tom Shear do more remixes outside of Goth/Industrial with bands like The Knife, Ladytron, Robots in Disguise, IAMX, and even non-electronic bands like The Killers or Amanda Palmer. The disc continues on with two particularly intriguing remixes. The Break Athem remix of Visions (interestingly renamed here as Visions of Our Past) by Sonic State brings the song into a really tribal and visceral place that would feel redundant if it just weren't so compelling and the Neikka RPM mix of Blush is just a really cool industrial track. The album finishes with a reprise of Visions (the most remixed song on the album) that on its own is nothing special but I think caps off the roughly hour and forth-five minutes between the two discs rather nicely. I also think its really great that the two discs is the standard version of the album with no special edition because I think it just adds to the epic quality of this master work. This album was released in 2003 and while Razed in Black claims to still be active its really a shame that there hasn't been an album since (though there have every now and then been new tracks or covers on various compilations and tributes mostly put out by the bands first and only label Cleopatra, having signed with them just after the band's founding back in 1994). Favorite Tracks: Blush, Share This Poison, There Goes My Head, Leave It All Behind, Visions, Come Back To Me, Nevermeant_V2, LIAB (Future Retro Mix), Visions (Assemblage 23 Mix), Visions of Our Past (Break Anthem Mix), and Blush (Neikka RPM Mix)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Album a Day: Razed in Black - Damaged
Its rare, but it happens every now and then where a band really just eventually finds the inspiration to go from middle of the road to great and that's exactly what Damaged represents. I'm not by any means saying Razed in Black was bad previous to this work, however Romell Regulacion's Razed in Black essentially spent two albums a few EPs as a solid industrial band with the one club hit being Oh My Goth! which is lyrically much better than the title would suggest but honestly if you're around other people and someone either here's that main chorus hit or just sees the title it can be a very embarrassing moment sort of like when you tell some of your friends that you like Pro Wrestling and you have to attempt to explain to them why its actually really good. In an interview I did with Romell after the release of the album he talked about the autobiographical nature of the Damaged as connected to a really difficult relationship/break-up he went through as the inspiration for the album and there's something just about the honesty and pure emotion of this album that really translates as I think it what was able to carry this junior album from the King of the Hawaiian goth/industrial scene to the next level of music making. Though originally more of an industrial band, Damaged has a really interesting mix of the bands signature industrial style mixed with elements of EBM, synthpop, and house. I also love that the elements Regulacion stayed true to the elements of RiB that were good before like prominent guitars mixed into the electro-industrial sound but even stepped that to a higher level in addition to friendlier synths that create a nice contrast to the darker electronic elements. I also really appreciate that Romell used this album as an opportunity to show off more of his vocal work which is just so rich in emotion on tracks like Share This Poison and Come Back To Me. Sonically this is a really complex album with a lot of layers that accompany the layers that go with the kind of situation that Romell clearly had gone through and shows in both the music and lyrics. It can get old listening to albums that focus more on love or breakups specifically so its actually refreshing that you get the full range of emotions here and thoughts like wanting to put the blame on anyone involved at different times, wondering where it all went wrong, reminiscing, and trying to just put things back the way they were. This is just such a heartfelt disc with wonderful music that is touching to listen to while also a great club album with several hits on album. I also really love the length of the songs. There are 11 tracks on the album with a total of just over an hour of music with each song averaging about five minutes, which allows each song really develop and adds for nice moments like the starting of the computer and synths at the beginning of Visions. These little bonuses give the album add another dimension similar to movie sampling but more original, create a narrative to the process, and also allows for breathing room. There are also several really nice appearances by fellow artists and friends of the project including Jay Tye (Soil & Eclipse), Athan Maroulis (Spahn Ranch), Alexys (Inertia), Reza (Inertia and Killing Joke), DJ MissGuided, and RiB contributors Yoshimi Shinozaki and Vicci Neptune. The album comes in a really nice digipak (which fittingly quickly gets damaged) with beautiful artwork and a bonus disc of some really cool remixes. The remixing actually seems like it begins at the end of the first disc which is an alternate version of Never Meant (originally from the album Sacrificed). The remix disc actually begins with another alternate version, this time of the album track Blush. The alternate version isn't really all that different but perhaps even slightly more club friendly (not all that different than a radio edit). The second track is a remix of Leave It All Behind by Romell that really shows off his remix skills as one of the more consistent remixers in the goth/industrial scene. Though normally his remixes can often be much clubbier more spastic versions I think he knows his music so well that instead we get these amazing 80's style synths layered over a track that was already really solid on its own. The Eve of Destiny remix of I'll Damage You and Soil & Eclipse remix of Am I 2 Blame? are pretty standard club mixes and actually not terribly interesting but sandwiched on the CD between them is really the crown jewel which is the Assemblage 23 remix of Visions. I challenge anyone to find a better remixer in Goth/Industrial than Tom Shear of Assemblage 23 (and he's certainly one of the top remixers in electronic music or music period). Tom really breaks down a song, understands what it does, and then gives his take on what he'd like to see done with it. If a band plays similar music to him then I feel like he makes sure to give the song he's remixing as different a take as possible and I think that is the excellent result we get with this track that is just so distinct with that amazing synth line throughout the song. I'm not sure whether I like the original version of Visions better or this remix but I would love to see Tom Shear do more remixes outside of Goth/Industrial with bands like The Knife, Ladytron, Robots in Disguise, IAMX, and even non-electronic bands like The Killers or Amanda Palmer. The disc continues on with two particularly intriguing remixes. The Break Athem remix of Visions (interestingly renamed here as Visions of Our Past) by Sonic State brings the song into a really tribal and visceral place that would feel redundant if it just weren't so compelling and the Neikka RPM mix of Blush is just a really cool industrial track. The album finishes with a reprise of Visions (the most remixed song on the album) that on its own is nothing special but I think caps off the roughly hour and forth-five minutes between the two discs rather nicely. I also think its really great that the two discs is the standard version of the album with no special edition because I think it just adds to the epic quality of this master work. This album was released in 2003 and while Razed in Black claims to still be active its really a shame that there hasn't been an album since (though there have every now and then been new tracks or covers on various compilations and tributes mostly put out by the bands first and only label Cleopatra, having signed with them just after the band's founding back in 1994). Favorite Tracks: Blush, Share This Poison, There Goes My Head, Leave It All Behind, Visions, Come Back To Me, Nevermeant_V2, LIAB (Future Retro Mix), Visions (Assemblage 23 Mix), Visions of Our Past (Break Anthem Mix), and Blush (Neikka RPM Mix)
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