We first got introduced to Australians The Berzerker via Earache Records who discovered Luke Kenny, at the time the sole member of the band through his remixes of artists such as Deicide. This was around the time that Earache had unleashed their somewhat groundbreaking introduction to Gabba ‘Industrial Strength’ the principles of which DJ Kenny adhered to. From there a band was born, at first disguised by masks an idea which the anonymous band finally grew out of but one which at the time worked well in their favour.
Four albums on Earache later, The Berzerker are out of contract and have taken the brave move to go it alone. This is completely understandable as with a breakdown Kenny has illustrated the fact that a band signed to a label with distribution and retail taken into account gets somewhere in the region of 3.3% of the money for each CD sold. So the new album aptly entitled The Reawakening is only available directly from the groups webstore (link at end of review) and not in any shops.
The album is thankfully damn good and will not disappoint any fans of the band. I was pleased as well as the last time I attempted to review one of their albums the promo was littered with voiceovers courtesy of Earache making it pretty much unlistenable. ‘Wisdom And Corruption’ comes in with everything brooding like an avalanche is about to hit, slow and building up it melds together death, grind and industrial elements with the ever present backdrop of Todd Hansen’s insanely fast drumming.
Glad to say that the great use of samples that The Berzerker have traditionally associated with is continued. Where they get them from makes things all the more unique, certainly not movies but someone obviously watches a lot of documentaries in their spare time. Things get ever more hectic as ‘An Unforgotten Force’ picks up the pace and ricochets all around with a drum n bass backbone subtly around the crazed instrumental wreckage. If you were waiting for that breakneck pace ‘Caught In The Crossfire’ delivers and I wonder how many damn B.P.M.’s, this hits as this was about the only info not found on the extensive notes that arrived with this disc.
Having not heard an album properly since ‘Dissimulate’ due to aforementioned circumstances it strikes me that things are both more experimental here and songs are on the whole longer, perhaps this could be a factor due to label constraints being severed but whatever the reason I like it. The breakcore speed sound behind ‘The Deception’ illustrates this admirably and with the snarling vocals here it’s like a collision of musical styles all punching each other in the head as though possessed and demonically trying to gain control. It’s kind of like a musical equivalent to a mondo movie such as ‘Faces Of Death’ at times. The samples add to this as do song themes, ‘Your Final Seconds’ and ‘Spare Parts’ thematically take you from last gasp, to mortuary slab and one can imagine the enigmatic Dr. Gröss easing you down this inevitable rite of passage.
As a much appreciated bonus we get six remixes of tracks ‘Spare Parts’ and ‘Caught In A Crossfire’. One wonders if this would have been a separate release from a label for more money. These are as you would expect all varied The Namshubofenki Mix of ‘Spare Parts’ is a crazy dark Junglist trip (and I checked that word exists as a sub genre although whether it is the right one….?) The ever reliable Delta 9 mash the tack up with one solid fast blazing mix which is so damn ferocious it virtually rips your head off. Finally there is a Frazzbass Mix which is gabba to the core and may well surprise a few listeners who have never actually heard this style properly before.
So short of doing a sales pitch all that remains is for me to tell you to check the links where you can purchase this and if you are still not convinced check out The Berzerker at Blooodstock and throughout the UK in August and September.
http://www.berzerkerindustries.com
http://www.myspace.com/theberzerker
