Diezel Xzaust - Death Certificate

On March 2nd, 2011, Russia's hardstyle duo Diezel Xzaust marked their arrival on the scene by releasing their first EP, 'Death Certificate' on Absetzer, a digital label dedicated to extreme forms of Rhythmic Noise, Hard IDM and Digital Hardcore. Members Archie Lunatic and Alexey Mad consider their music to fall under the genres of TBM and Rhythmic Noise. However, I feel that 'Death Certificate' has more of a Hardstyle feel to it, mixed with a dash of Rhythmic Noise and a whole bunch of Digital Hardcore.

This 6 track EP with a running time of just under thirty minutes features a collaboration with Virgin Fix and two remixes by PAL and Zweifelhaft. The free download is available on the label's website as a 69 MB [MP3] or a 246 MB [FLAC]. 'Death Certificate' is a great introduction for Diezel and shows just how heavy hitting they are within the scene. This EP is a great example of how to show new listeners exactly what they're made of by showcasing how easily this duo can transition from one genre to the next while continuing to keep the bass pumping and the beats fast.

"Zero Tolerance" starts off this EP as a hard-hitting combination of Digital Hardcore and EBM. Many of the tracks on this EP feature male and/or female vocal samples, but I don't believe there are any real lyrics. "Zero Tolerance" features sporadic tempo changes and drops that keep you interested, despite a rather repetitive beat.

The EP's title track "Death Certificate" is just as heavy, much more on the Digital Hardcore side of things. This track reminds me of something I'd hear from the band Aggressionslevel 4.0, while also reminding me of many of the tracks that were found on the old Industrial Strength compilations released by Industrial Strength Records. The samples here are very distorted and you can just make out them saying 'Death Certificate' over and over. Once again, the track is a bit repetitive and that may not bother other people, but being a fan of IDM, it does bother me a bit. I start to lose interest after a while, but at least this song doesn't disappoint with the continuous beats.

Track 3, "The Undead" features a collaboration with Moscow's Virgin Fix. This track is completely different from the rest as it's very guitar heavy. No vocals are found here at all.

"Gimme Noize" is my favorite track of this EP. This track is mostly Rhythmic Noise, and features a fast, heavy beat, but not as fast as Hardcore would be. I would consider playing this out when I DJ as it's very club friendly. It features your typical synths that are found in most Electro-Industrial tracks.

The last two tracks are remixes of "Death Certificate". The remix by PAL (I wasn't able to confirm if this was Germany's P.A.L. or not) is my least favorite track. It's basically just noise against beats. It's really loud, doesn't change much. There's not much depth to it. It doesn't really seem like much thought went into creating it, so if it's really a P.A.L. remix then I'm pretty disappointed. The other remix is by Zweifelhaft who basically turned it into a super club friendly Alien Vampires type song. There's nothing wrong with that. I think this remix is better than the original track and turns it into a completely new song. I'd also consider playing this out.

Since releasing 'Death Certificate,' Diezel Xhaust has put out one more EP, two singles and one bootleg of their live performance at Cyber Halloween 2012. Be sure to check out the rest of their releases by visiting the Absetzer website.

This EP is an all-out assault on your ears and doesn't let up, if only for a few seconds here there. Any fan of the Extreme Storfrequenz compilations would be a fan of DX's tunes that will be sure to have you on the dance floor directing traffic in no time. Apr 05 2013