“A gnawing sense of dissatisfaction,” are apparently the reasons that I have this particular CD in my hands. Virtual Cage came out of lock up just a few years ago and were put together by singer GodFucker who was fed up with “stagnation of ideas.” A few years later they are ready to unleash their debut album thanks to signing to Killer Pool Records and the help of Victor Love of Dope Stars Inc and Epochate’s tutelage. You should have gathered from this that this is an album for those that like EBM and Industrial with lots of BPM’s flying out the speakers and body popping dance floor moves.
I was struck on first listen that this was pretty solid stuff, although perhaps not as blindingly original as Mr GodFucker would have us believe. Still, claims like that are rife in the music industry and we take them with a pinch of salt anyway, as it does nothing really to stop any enjoyment of the music itself. Quickly establishing itself as an up all night party animal this 11 track 53 minute album bumps and grinds away as ‘No 1 Can Be Us’ bounds out the cage and rushes off like a video game soundtrack piling out the beats and brandishing keyboard electronics heavily in your face. The blasphemously named singer adds to the music with a throaty lyrical diatribe ranting over the top solidly. Guest star Victor Love gets his parts over quickly on second number D-Troop and this is a strong number with plenty of melody and an infectiously memorable chorus. The bleeps and whooshes are flying thickly and the drum programming is holding its own. Apparently the group are now looking for a live drummer so no doubt have plans to strut their stuff at dingy nightclubs through Europe. ‘Careless Instinct’ has the vocals on full yell and is a more atmospherically brooding number which works nicely and is good for stomping heavy boots along to. There is a more metallic element to this one that shows slightly different dimensions to their scope.
From no doubt a reviewers point of view I do find this a bit on the long side and after 6 or so songs it has all started to blend into each other. Not really a criticism but I guess with this sort of music and although I like it, hard hitting shorter dynamics do more for me and I find at times the songs themselves can be a tad long and over-indulgent. Still the slam dunk sci-fi techno of ‘I Feel Like’ and the bombastic beats of ‘BBB (Black Boom Beauty)’ keep the pace up and the music driving along. A tribute to Wumpscut in the form of ‘Jesus Antichristus,’ should also win the band a few points. If you like bands like the aforementioned and Das Ich this should go down nicely and despite any criticism I have made it’s a good solid debut.
http://www.myspace.com/virtualcage
Pete Woods
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