00tz 00tz - Alter Eden

It's been a while since Harsh EBM band 00tz 00tz released their latest album 'Alter Eden' on Nilaihah Records, sharing a label with acts such as The Azoic, Interface, Null Device and NamNamBulu. Released in September of 2012, 'Alter Eden' offers up 14 tracks of Harsh EBM and Electro-Industrial, featuring two remixes at the end, one by Sonik Foundry. It's about an hour long, with three tracks barely making it past the 3 minute mark (one of which is the other remix).

00tz 00tz hails from Bronx, NY, US. 00tz 00tz began it's roots in 2008 as an instrumental project of it's member Nicky Phoenix. Later on down the road, Krysta Veronica Button joined the band as a vocalist and a writer. In the past 4 years, this band has released 3 albums and 1 single, with 'Alter Eden' being the only release on Nilaihah Records. The band has performed at popular dance night events such as Subspace (NYC), Asylum Guild (NJ, US), Southern Gothic Fest II in New Orleans, at San Antonio's Cyber Genetic Festival and will be performing on the 2013 Gothic Cruise. They have performed alongside other acts such as Mindless Faith and Ayria, and have been featured in the "In Their Own Words" section of the Spring 2011 issue of Carpe Nocturne magazine.

I wish I had some positive things to say about this album, as I try to look at music that I generally don't listen to from both the viewpoints of a critic, and someone who would enjoy this style of music. However, this album pretty much describes the reason that I stopped listening to any new Harsh Industrial music that has been recently released and started delving into other genres. No wonder the scene is dying (at least it is in the U.S.) when bands like this put out mediocre, uninteresting albums. If I was younger, I wouldn't want to listen to this either. Compared to some other reviewers on Brutal Resonance, I haven't been listening to Harsh EBM/Industrial that long. I began in 2001, so for about 12 years I've had experience in watching the genre of Harsh EBM devolve into what it is today. It truly is a disgrace, and I've become disgusted with bands that had a really interesting, original sound who have dumbed their music down to try to appeal to a younger generation, or perhaps, just to try and sell more albums. Bands such as Grendel, Dismantled, Noisuf-X. Amazing music artists who now create cringe-worthy tracks.

'Alter Eden' adds absolutely nothing new to the genre and is just another re-hash of the crappy Harsh Industrial that is being released today. Everyone wants to sound like Suicide Commando, but no one does it right. Most of the tracks on this album all sound like the same track. They try to break it up by placing a few heavier tracks throughout, but when it really comes down to it, I felt like I was listening to the same tracks over and over. One thing that boggles my mind is why bands such as this try to sound so spooky and evil, but then go and use the dumbest, annoying sounding synths I've ever heard in my life. It's almost comical, and I can't take it seriously.

The "vocals" on this album are not good. Maybe Krysta is nice to look at, but she can't sing and shouldn't be singing unless her voice is vocoded. Perhaps the album wouldn't be so intolerable if they had left her vocals off, but she talks on every single track. I felt like I was at an industrial poetry slam and she was just yelling at me. She has that "I'm totally disinterested in what I'm saying or doing right now" tone to her voice and quite frankly, it's annoying. I think Nicky made a mistake in bringing her on as a vocalist. Nicky's vocals are vocoded and sound ok, but neither of them can really sing or even speak in tune or on key with the music. It sounds like they are just talking and if there are vocal effects, they are very light and really don't distort them that much.

To be honest, 00tz 00tz's first album, 'Death By Numbers', is really the only good album. I like that album. Not a lot, but it has a lot of interesting, clean sounding hard songs that are very club friendly. I really don't understand why Nicky changed. I mean, most bands do, over time, and that's acceptable. But in my opinion, it wasn't a change for the better. In 2009, I would've paid to see this band or even booked them for a show. Now, I would not.

So I'm sorry to give such a bad review, but unfortunately I just couldn't think of anything positive to say about this. I'm sure they have many fans and will continue to grow and play larger events and festivals. And I wish them luck in the future. But right now, at my age of 31, I can't get into this and I never will. May 05 2013