Tyler Milchmann - Strange Days

I always found a certain love for the label of Bugs Crawling Out of People. It-Clings, founder of the Canadian label, wonderfully blends humor and sarcasm to his roster, but penetrates the sordid barrier that we, as humans, find within ourselves with other releases (Death of Self's "Embracing the Things We Hate About Ourselves, for example). And, with all that said, the humorous label released Tyler Milchmann's 'Strange Days', which is very soothing at points, very funny, and is often times just as dark.

Now, as self described on Bandcamp, this album contains a bunch of songs with very weird tales woven in the musical movements; in one, there is a man trying to come to terms with the psychopathic mind of a serial killer, another comes in the form of sluts doing each other in (killing each other, that is), and it becomes blatantly obvious that this album just comes in the form of dark comedy through and through.

What's more is that the album is half sung in German, and half sung in English, This makes for an interesting formula, as both parts as sung very well, and neither side seems to strained over the other.

Of course, what's a review without talking about the music? It's electro-industrial, and the vocals are solid. The beats are hard hitting and usually very synth driven. "Where Iron Crosses Never Grow" is awesome, as it's very ,much an industrial rock song, but keeps up the synths throughout the whole song. The drums take a stand in this song and hit hard with every slam of the stick.

"In der Ukraine" was another unique track, as it definitely takes a nod with folk metal, and sounds as if it would make a perfect ballad; the synth that drives throughout the song reminds me of a battle horn. Other songs take a step lower, such as "Es Wartet Der Tod Auf Dem Waldpfad Geduldig". Well, maybe lower isn't the right term, but the tempo definitely slows the fuck down. The song comes out okay, but I still find a lot of the synth work in it to be enlightening, but sloppy.

However, for the most part, the album is very enjoyable. It's fairly unique in comparison to a lot of the shit I've been listening to lately both outside of reviewing and inside. Then again, I can only expect oddities (the good kind of oddities) from Bugs Crawling Out of People, and it's definitely a label to look upon with free spirit. For, if it keeps signing guys like Milchmann, they'll keep up a good reputation. Maybe not become famous for it, but they'll definitely have a solid rep. Jul 19 2013