UCNX - Replicator

Well received act UCNX seeks to capitalize on the popular remix/cover crossover that's loved within the industrial and electronic scenes. Though it is just remixes and cover songs on this album, it still manages to extend fifteen tracks for a total of seventy three minutes; and that's a nice long time. However, the questions remains as to whether or not this release can hold up to standards; whether remixes and covers will rise high or just fall below.

As far as covers are concerned, we get the works with songs ranging from Nine Inch Nails' Now I'm Nothing/Terrible Lie to to EBM master Leaether Strip's Heavy Rotation. However, by far, my favorite cover came in the form of one of the least harsh songs on the album under the Tears for Fears cover. It was delicious to get through.

The rest of the covers were nice, I can admit that. However, I do not want to spend my time going through song after song from legendary artists that you have heard before; the idea to include so many covers was neat. But, I feel as if these should have been spread out amongst multiple releases rather than just one.

And, as much as I enjoyed the remixes, I can say the same. The remixes come from the tracklist of Generation Damaged. Still got a treatment over to a Stagnant Version, but nothing stays still about this song. It rushes forth louder than the original version and were as an ice cream sundae to my ears.

Overgrowth got a huge electronic makeover by Society Burning. For a while, the song maintained a pretty level feel, producing not only the original sounds here and there with guitars running through, but also with the robotic noise plaguing the song. It wasn't until the end that we really got a feel for some classic UCNX sound mixed with the remixer's choice sounds.

Audiowar got rid of a lot of the breakbeat influences within Generation Damaged and went for a more industrial rock sort of vibe. Of course, there were breaks here and there from the guitar, but it still went over pretty well with me.

With somewhat of a techno vibe along with harder electronics, Noonatac brought forth a good sound with their remix of Consequence Brings. Bringing forth a bit of an eighties feel with them comes Some Kinda Nobody toying with Overgrowth. With the vocals from UCNX crossing the song, it sounded like an 80s/90s mashup. And it sounded good to see two eras fit in one song.

Gross National Produkt came out of their dark hole to deliver perhaps one of the darkest mixes the album has yet to see. They took The Innocent and made it not so innocent, working it over, chewing on it a bit, and then spitting out the bastard child they created through rigid terrains and the works. If you should gain anything from this ramble, it's probably that this is an awesome remix.

Digicore brought their style of industrial rock to UCNX, and created a sort of muddy remix of Still. The result definitely sounded a bit more punk than normal, and did well. Electronic music project Aesthetische delivered a fair remix, allowing The Innocent to become a bit more innocent than the previous mix.

The last remix came from H.Scott of Terminal Sect, and delivered a pretty decent industrial mix of Still. It took a while to get to the breakbeat tone in the song, but had an awesome build to it in the form of such forbidding noise.

Alas, that is the last of the remixes. Each one has been touched upon, and I enjoyed every last one. While, still, I admit that I'm not huge on remix albums, this one managed to impress me. Each remix wasn't a half-assed in any sense, and the artist's put a good effort in creating something unique. I wasn't too huge a fan of many of the covers, but they were still decent. And, well, I guess I only have to say thanks to UCNX for releasing this and making my night worthwhile. Apr 27 2014