Cease2Xist - Living by the Bullet EP

The UK revival is continuing. Hot on the hells of CeDigest, Deviant Uk, and Method Cell comes Cease2xist, which on immediate inspection offers as much potential as Anowrexiya before it, and more recently, the.invalid.

With a Harsh EBM sound, a Punk/Hardcore style of vocal, and a name that (may or may not) be inspired by the Ladytron track of the same name, Dayve Yates is on a mission to prove that we are experiencing the Renaissance of the Electro-Industrial scene.

The Initial track, "Xistence" is a musical cauldron of excellent beats, dance-floor filling synth, and the ever-so-common vocals that are present in the scene these days : I have previously referred to them as "Screamo", but I feel I need to revise that. The track has an interlude at about 3:00 that I classify best as "Heavy Trance".

The title track is a Firearm inspired number, which begins with a sample of some woman marketing the AK-47. Kinda like Combichrist's "This is my Rifle", except far more memorable. I particularly like the harsh synth that plays through the entire track, and the sampling is sparse enough to not be annoying. At times, Dayve's vocals even remind me of some of the earlier stuff by Ministry.

"One-Zero" is the finished version of a track I remember seeing floating around on the Myspace page about 18 months ago. (Quite why I was on Myspace, I don't know).It's a great resource to have heard a demo of this track, to be able to compare it to the version that is on this EP.

Other tracks on here include the catchy "Shake Your Spine" which has a looping section which will actually make you do exactly that, "Violence" (No prizes for guessing what this song is like), "Control, Rebirth and Delete", and finally "The Unbearable Thought of Defeat".

There is also a remix of "Living By the Bullet" by fellow UK act System:FX, but sadly, that isn't on the version of this EP that is available from many places (this site being one of them)

One thing I have to really give credit to is the way that Dayve is able to make the vocals (which I'm only now starting to accept as the new direction of the scene) blend flawlessly with the music, It combines the Harshness of Aggrotech (if you will), with the bile and rage of Hardcore Punk. It's performed so well that one has to question if the two were never coupled in the first place.

For an EP (One which is also available for Free), Dayve is extremely generous with the amount of music on here. Seven songs and Thirty Six minutes is not something to be disregarded as a "maybe". I've heard albums that have impressed me less than this, or to a similar level, that are going for £15 and upwards. This won't cost you a penny.

Moving forward, I urge Dayve Yates to continue doing what he is doing. I think he will refine his sound even more, and find a style he can claim as his own. Regardless, there is nothing that this EP has that will put off potential investors.

Stunning first release, with no risk of becoming redundant or repetitive. More of the same please! Mar 17 2011