Leaether Strip - ÆSCAPISM

Just a few days ago, I had an interview with Claus from Leaether Strip. During the interview, he said that he has received much critical praise from both DJs and fans, and that the amount of high regard it's receiving has not been heard of since his 2005 rebound. And those fans and DJs have a right to be saying that; Æscapism is marked down in my books as one fine album.

Though the album has been self-released digitally, Claus has a no contract agreement with emmo.biz records, which thankfully means that we're able to have a CD edition of the album as of now. However, if you have not picked up the album as of yet, you may want to hop on it; the physical version is running out fast.

While there is currently the 2CD version out (which contains a shit ton of remixes), I shall be reviewing the standard edition which contains fifteen new songs, and one of those is a collaborative effort with Decoded Feedback.

And the album itself begins off with a slow paced track titled, We fail we forget. As far as I'm concerned, the slight noise presented within the song along with the dragging synths can definitely be used in the soundtrack to a horror film. Claus' vocals are as good as ever, even if not much has changed from one release to the next.

Sanctuary pops in next, going straight into the EBM roots of this one man band. A simple, yet good line racks throughout the song, and makes less more. The standard breaks from the beat with the addition of another synth works well to keep the song different. Hold Me comes in next, kind of taking it back a notch, kind of like the first track. I'd say that it takes some hints from witch house, but that's my opinion. I'm sure someone will argue this point.

Humanity is a pretty angry song. Having a harsher beat and a seemingly more angry Claus than the previous songs, it came out fairly well. Hold your fire came off with a medium pace, with the vocals holding notes a bit more. Suicide summer school picks things back up with a faster pace, and an amazing chorus. With an effect on the vocals that makes one voice sound like a thousand growls, and a much harsher beat, it came off as a great one.

And then track seven brings in something fairly upbeat, The hired man. With a higher synth note, and very nice and soothing vocals, it was different, and perhaps one of my favored tracks on the album. And the album was turned back on its feet with Strong boys, a fairly sexual song that's all meant for fun.

Trash Talker continues on the path of songs such as Hold me, and didn't do much for me in comparison to the rest of the songs. In fire on fire had an amazing intro, just building up to the climax at the minute mark, where all breaks down and we're the vocals kick in and the beats get better. Unhuman response brings it back a step, allowing the song to slow down, but sound more menacing than most, sounding like a continuation of We fail we forget.

I'm not the one comes off as a pretty depressing song, with lyrical content such as, "why do these memories return/ when all I want do/ is make them fade away." It's a song that will probably hit hard to anyone who's ever experienced a harsh time in their life. And, again, sounding like a song fit for Halloween comes along The dark gates of sundown. Showing off that less is more again, this song had the vocals take the main stage, coming off almost as a story. And then we're given another song in the fashion of Strong boys. Seeming to focus on good'ol BDSM, it comes off as another fun song.

Lastly, we're given the final track, worked on with Decoded Feedback, called Extinction Protocol. A slightly more electronic feel is given to this song, and it comes out pretty well.

So, all in all, with these fifteen songs in mind, I can say this album is pretty kick ass. I already have a few favorites picked from the album, such as the beginning track, The hired man, and even The dark gates of sundown. And, well, if I have favorites from the album, you can bet your ass I'll be listening to it tonight, dancing my sexy ass off like the strong boy I am. Mar 29 2014