CUTnPASTe - Kill em All and Come Back Alone

Hailing from Serbia Industrial Metal/Aggrotech Band CutNPaste are back for their 4th record and debut on label Honour & glory. After splitting up/going on hiatus in 2003 much has changed for the band including line up changes a new vocalist and a focus on a new more aggressive sound.

End Game - Kicking off the album is the intro/Soundscape track End game beginning with ambient-layered synth pads and low volume electronic hi hats guitar feedback, metallic hits and droning guitar chords while vocals shouting murder come out of no where to set the cogs of the album in motion.

Total Death - starting off from where end game left off comes Total death with it's electronic jackhammer kick drums and chugging guitars really starting off the track with a bang however the down side I find is the lyrics like "I'm going to rape you, I'm going to chase you" just seems very generic and bland as the theme of violence and sexual abuse is a very common and overused concept in the industrial scene not just industrial metal itself.

Kill em All and Come Back Alone - Next up is the title track with it's metallic percussion repetitive guitar riffs giving the track a nice groove with direct verses of themes of yet again murder and violence. A great thing about this song is how direct the choruses are with its gang shout style approach of saying "kill em all" leading into the breakdown where mainly the keyboards take over with spoken word lyrics giving breathing space and back into all hell breaking loose to end the track.

We're On A killer Road Baby - This track to me has one of the best starts on the album with it's white zombie like groove riff that really sets it out from the previous couple of tracks giving a fresh approach and keeping the listener guessing another noticeable part of this song is the fact it?s also in the bands native language Serbian which is also a nice surprising change then breaking into the nonstop double kick drum assault of drums changing the groove into thrash also another great use of gang shout call and response techniques while keyboards help to give the track spacing within the 2 and half minute song.

Die Bitch Die - it seems there's no stopping cut n paste with its non-stop assault of full frontal riffs and this track is no different with it's syncopation between kick drums and guitars really does emphasise the Fear Factory influence that the band relates to however once again the track is let down with it's lyrical out put of sex and violence and constant use of shouting "suck it" really let this song which could have been flawless and industrial metal at it's finest but then again the title really can say it all.

We Are Dead - Carrying on from the intensity of "Die Bitch Die" leads us to the track "We Are Dead" a rather simple but effective track and the band surprisingly manage to get so much in 1 minute 46 seconds with it?s brand of industrialized thrash theres some great guitar work using a lead line over the rhythm parts to give the song some sort of melodic property which had been missing from many of the previous track apart from the odd keyboard/synth line vocals again direct aggressive and well placed.

Give Me Some Pain - Beginning with an eerie horror movie sample and guitars and drums blasting away I was thinking yes until I heard another industrial cliché - orgasm samples and more lyrical contact on sex and violence with it's female chorus of "rape me kill me kiss me fuck me" totally killing the track for me -I'd say this for me was the weakest track on the album which is a shame after so many great musical and in some places lyrical content.

Steel Morning - wow, a real redeemer after the last track - a more mid tempo track complete with literally steel like percussion with great chugging rhythm guitars accompanying the drums which are extremely well controlled and well programmed giving an almost thought of a human drummer vocally this track shocked me with it's almost melodic like singing and showed a real opposite side to cut n paste that made me want to hear more tracks like and for me a real highlight to the album a great well written song.

Fuck Slut (Aggrotech Mix) - And now we approach the aggrotech side of the album which starts off to a real oh dear the title and lyrics poor especially with all the controversy of members of the scene complaining about this exact kind of thing in the scene at the moment. Probably for me the worst track on the album however musically great a good array of synths and danceable beat to it and shows that cut n paste has a good skill for versatility and can evenly balance out both sides of there sound and can still give a slightly redeeming factor to any song.

On Dolazi Po Krv (Aggrotech Mix) - Which in English translates, as "He Comes By The Blood" is the 2nd aggrotech track on the album which is much better to the previous track much more original lyrically also in Serbian as well musically it has a simple synth bassline which works effectively and helps create and catchy track and simple yet effective drum beats with some very effective well placed alternating hi hat patterns and snare drum fills which is some what of a rarity in the aggrotech genre at times.

End Game Revisited - A Somewhat reprise to the starting track starting with white noise which almost sounds like the wind and distant screams from the vocalist that were heard in the track end game later on in the mix comes a distant kick drum creating a pulse and giving a rhythmic sense to the track and a positive and different sounding way of closing the album and giving a good sense of continuity that signals beginning and end.


Well to sum up not a bad release musically great and really has delivered the more aggressive sound as stated and props to cut n paste for delivering what they promised which is a rarity among bands and some great versatility musically a good show to both sides of the bands style which is a real strong point which I would like to see more of however the concepts and lyrical themes seem to be the let as there very overused and rather cliché for industrial metal and aggrotech and may put listeners off the record or leave people who buy the album feeling that it was generic but the music really does redeem kill em all and come back alone I'm going to give the album a 6 out of 10 for having a strong musical approach to both sides of there said genres how ever I feel that I'm unable to give it higher due to the lyrical concepts that I feel are the weak link on this release but I wouldn't write cut n paste off I hope the band learn from these pointers and I look forward to hearing the next release to see if they can build off these criticisms
Jun 12 2012