Schultz - Schultz

An established veteran of the Power Electronics/Noise/Harsh Industrial scene, Phillippe Bodino's 'Schultz' has taken heed of recent feedback and decided that it's time for a change. As a fan of his noisy work, with 2008's excellent 'Psykiatrik Area' being the avatar of perversion that I like in my noise, this eponymous album marks a change in the sound of Schultz.

The release is advertised as 'More Electronic' and 'Less Noisy', and this does indeed sound completely like nothing else from P.B. The opener '24 Hours are not Enough' fits into the Electro-Industrial / Harsh EBM niche, and there's very minor elements of Futurepop in this release - What a transfusion!

Glory and Honour have chosen to mark their territory as an upcoming and seriously stalwart and open minded label by releasing this CD,and it suits the reincarnation of Schultz as well as the album fits in with its label mates. 'Fuck Buddy' reminds me of Menschdefekt's 'Psycho Bitch', mainly due to the high BPM and concept. The sound is dirty, very fast, very dancy, and very schizophrenic.

Despite criticisms of the previous Schultz release, Philippe has obviously decided to try and retain the elements of mental disarray, progressive insanity and headfucking aggression, but melted the concotion into a more melodic, almost TBM inspired outlet.

Another stand out is 'Electronikal Disease' - a nod to a previous album, but this is indeed very, very harsh. Releasing this album with 10 (mostly) excellent tracks, and 6 remixes featuring acts such as label mates Flesh Eating Foundation (themselves an excellent UK based CyberPunk act), and Polish Harsh act Traumatize, I really believe this is the start of Schultz' turning fortunes.

This will appeal to older fans, and to fans of Harsh EBM, and anyone who thought Philippe was a one-track pony can fuck right off. Sep 14 2011