Skon - Nic Realnego

It's been a long time since I've heard an album like this. Most electronic industrial these days seems to draw from a strictly limited pool of influences (find one that DOESN'T quote Skinny Puppy as an influence), just as most old-school EBM seems to copy Nitzer Ebb's first album over and over. There are other sub-genres that simply haven't seen so much interest in terms of revival, and for the first time in ages I'm hearing a new album that harks back to the long-forgotten and largely-deleted dark electro sound of the late 80s and early 90s. Bands such as yelworC, Placebo Effect and Calva Y Nada all produced works of note that simply haven't found a contemporary audience.

But in some small way I hear the sound being revived here. The lo-fi production, the crashing, reverb-heavy drums, the vocal gravel and the layers of darkwave synth. It genuinely is a true gothic/industrial hybrid, and whilst it's all very ominous stuff, well, you're not here looking for easy listenin' music, are you? Possibly indicating this sub-genres now very niche appeal is the fact that this project is not from Germany (from where practically all music in this style emerges) but from over the border in Poland. And all the songs are in Polish.

Luckily the accompanying image file collection provides translations, and it's not like anyone listens to songs like this to obtain deep lyrical insights. Be assured that it's all very bleak stuff. It's on a musical level where albums like this score, and Skon have no less that 14 tracks with which to make a mark here. We open with the quasi-symphonic "Wstep", which leads us into the albums title track.

And if you're looking for an example for how to 'do' this style, this is one of the best examples available, all jackhammering drums, throbbing synth arps, arcing strings flying over the top of the mix, and not one hint of the overused supersaw synth presets used by every Hocico and Suicide Commando wannabe out there. The following track "Odlegla Wolnosc" continues along similar lines, possibly lacking a little of the grandeur of the title track but still more than capable of filling your ears with swathes of pulsating electronic gloom.

"Rdzawe Lzy", a slow instrumental stomp takes us into "Nie Ten Wymiar", and we hear the projects first sign of weakness, the track too reliant on a two-chord repetition to hold interest for the six-minute duration. "Umieram" is a minute longer, but luckily has the energy and impetus to last the duration, in the process bringing back welcome memories of Slaughtering Tribe-era :Wumpscut:. Which, contrary to popular opinion, produced more good songs than just "Soylent Green".

"Grajek" is almost light relief in comparison, a brief run of octave basslines and catchy martial melody taking us through to "Wieczna Piesn". This is the strongest of the album's slow, reflective tracks, the synth creating a cathedral-sized atmosphere at times. "Droga" is another hard, stompy one, but without any embellishments of note, and hence comes across as filler. "Mruczanka Dia Smierci" is what I'd diplomatically call a "flavour track", a quirky, almost folky instrumental that again serves as counterpoint change in tone, or rather would have done had it not tried to drag out too few ideas a minute too long.

A brief reprise of "Nic Realnego" chrous follows, not unwelcome but not necessary either, which leaves the album to close with two older Skon recordings. Well, that what's I'm guessing they are, given the song titles have dates it. "How You Die For Pain" from 2002 was definitely worth reviving, lacking the intense drum programming of the newer songs but every bit as successful in an atmospheric sense. The 2006 track "Zwiastun" works less well, coming across as a mid-00s EBM throwaway. There is a final blast of noise in the form of "Zakonczenie" to see us out on, but if I wanted to listen to this kind of thing I would have dug out my Whitehouse CDs. Oops, sorry, I sold 'em.....

But for the balance of this duration, this album does indeed achieve the role of reminding the few of us that remember it of an era of dark electronic music that has largely been forgotten. And for those of you who have no idea what the bands I've been referring to during this review sound like, well, I'm afraid virtually all of their backcatalogues have been deleted. So you'll have to settle for this. And if you wanted more incentive, Halotan have it available as a free download! Nov 16 2012