It’s been a little while since we’ve done a review. What better way to correct that with an album that starts off with what is perhaps one of the sickest grooves and analog synth sounds that I’ve heard in a while. Today we bring you New Jersey’s Electrikill with their unique brand of genre-bending electronic music and the new album, ‘Kuntzpiracy’.
What a rock-solid start – the first two tracks… club bangers for certain. Elektrikill is, one of those projects that I find it hard to pinpoint the likely artists or eras that influenced the tracks. There’s frequently (as is the case throughout this album) a mixture of modern and older (80s/90s) dark electro, gothic/industrial.
Then when you expect another “banger”, Eleketrikill surprises us with a track that starts off with a piano-based intro – still intense with emotion and an awesome build up until the end of the song full of percussion strikes in the right place and the mindfulness of where not to place certain instruments so as to increase the sonic and emotional effect.
Speaking of the emotional side of Elektrikill, I think that’s where the effectiveness of the clean vocals come in. They come across (at least to this reviewer) as someone pulling emotion out of their gut – behind an emotional wall but screaming to get out. I know that is subjective and probably sounds silly. But that’s what I envision.
Back to the bangers we go with “Monoshift”. Sort of a mix of NIN and mid 90s electro. This is perhaps the best example of the sonic depth that Elektrikill is skilled as presenting.. The rhythmic beat in the foreground and layers beneath it. I enjoy the purity of the “industrial” element in this one… the transitions from the lighter to the heavier momoents and the mixture of what sounds like analog and digital synths.
We’re not going to go through the entire track list. We’re covering the main examples of Elektrikill using a few of the songs as examples that showcase certain elements.
“Museum of Atrocity” – two words. Holy shit.. goosebumps at the thick, crushing, deep synth hits in the beginning and the ripping beat after that… Elektrikill takes us on a track that would be good to blast on a level in the car speaker system that might threaten to blow the speakers.
I’m not really sure what else to say about the album, quite honestly. I guess we can sum it up. Elektrikill is a project whose albums really have to be listened to with the intention of being deep in thought. That’s what they are..deep. It’s a bit hard to explain so you’ll just have to listen. There’s a distinct element throughout the album (as well as within their other albums) where they somehow blend intricasy in some levels and simplicity in others. There’s depth in some moments and in others not so much. But this is one of those cases where you really find some new sound in listening that maybe you didn’t hear the first time you went rhough it.
Dynamic sonically and emotionally. This is a project with influences from current artists and those many of us love from the past, Ministry, NIN, Skrew and so many others. I’d be willing to bet the artists undergoes a self-imposed emotional exorcism during the recording. This is a one-man project from Steven Vil? Wow. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next. Because he knocked it out of the proverbial “park” with this one. Pay attention to this and go support him…especially if you like artists who honor the sub-genres, shreds them up and creates his own document from the bits and pieces.
https://elektrikill.bandcamp.com/album/k-ntzpiracy
https://www.instagram.com/svilelektrikill
