vProjekt - Exhilarate & Disgust + A Beautiful Reprise

This has been a long time in the making. Hailing from Australia, and consisting solely of Eugene A. Nesci, vProjekt is a retrospective look at the best of technical Dark Electro and EBM, utilizing the 1990s as its seemingly root influence.

This is an artist that has put together enough material for at least 7 full length CDs, and is showing no sign of stopping. This lengthy, two CD release kicks us off with 'Humanside' - my favourite opener of the year, and a strong bet for one of the tracks of the year. Imagine old school, pounding Electro-Industrial laced with a thumping, downtuned, powerful Bass reminiscent of Die Sektor. Combine this with scene-standard harsh vocals, that alternate between clean and harsh like it's as easy as swallowing water. vProjekt is highly technical and advanced, and Nesci is incredibly proficient as a songwriter. I'll make my one criticism of this CD early - it takes a while to really understand, and those of you that want a release to dance to, and instantly wear like a badge of honour might need more persuasion to check it out.

'Exhilarate & Disgust' incorporates almost every style of Industrial within the last 20 years at some point - 'Thermite' does exactly what the name suggests and sounds like the fiercest explosion possible, 'Splinters in the Frame' sounds like Lexincrypt meets Fractured, and despite wearing his influences on his sleeve, at no point does Eugene hint at being a copycat. Some of his song titles are outstandingly creative, and his knack for drawing upon the darkest sounds he can wrestle from a synth deck / DAW is desirable.

'Warlord' is as barbaric and ruthless as the name suggests, 'Tower of Memories' is symbolic and will no doubt be seen as a catalyst for a new style of Industrial to break through.

Disc 1 is essentially stoic, unapologetic, and harnesses a labour of love that's impossible to fail to observe.

Disc 2 'A Beautiful Reprise' is titled as such for a reason; I find most of the tracks on here to be of the more accessible style of EBM, and they range from traditional and dancy 'Raptures', to experimental ('Night Imager + Onychphora'), and we even get Suicide Commando's own Johan Van Roy to lend his talents to 'Swarms and Hives', and the majestically titled 'The Sky Fell Aground' is yet another highlight.

Deathwatch Asia have done something they seldom do on the second disc - it only contains four remixes. So prolific and talented is Nesci, that it simply isn't justifiable to not release as much of his material as possible. The remixes, however, feature (among others) Lexincrypt, Controlled Collapse, and Die Sektor - all of which are just as fascinating to understand as the original tracks. It's like rewriting Poe through the mind of Chuck Palahniuk...

In one album, we have almost every niche of the Industrial genre at its very, very best. Every kind of plugin, beat, arp, shift, oscillation and anything else you can think of is featured here, and in every instance, the music is highly technical and multi-layered.

This will be compared to the new Die Sektor CD, and it goes without saying : this is the finest new act to emerge in a decade! I've never seen one individual with such a pure, unbridled, fantastic mind and ability, and I promise you, this is going to be scene-changing.

Christ... Nov 04 2011