Andy Leplegua refuses to just take a break. He’s always working on the next project, the next album, the next remix…and that’s fine as long as the work maintains a high quality. His last album under the Combichrist moniker, 2007′s What The Fuck Is Wrong With You People? (Our review), seemed like a peak for the act even if it lacked some much needed restraint. Leplegua had crafted a stomping club classic and the Combichrist vehicle easily surpassed his other projects (Icon Of Coil, Panzer AG, DJ Scandy) in power and prolificacy. Following a successful tour it was time to sit back, regroup and figure out a game plan pertaining to what direction to embark upon next.
Or rather…
Combichrist is already back with a new release called The Frost EP: Sent To Destroy. It features three new tracks and six remixes beginning with “Sent To Destroy,” a song that shows absolutely no progression from the last release whatsoever. In fact it comes across as an extra from the WTFIWWYP? sessions. Like a sped-up “Get Your Body Beat” the intro synth pulse will sound all too familiar even as the cadence proves undeniably infectious. “The Kill (instrumental version)” again sounds a lot like “Get Your Body Beat.” You can actually sing the lyrics to that song over it since there aren’t any on this track. Presumably there will be words included on the upcoming album version. “Prince Of E-Ville” may very well be the most irritating song LePlegua has yet written, and not in a good way. The lyrics are terrible, the vocal performance is…barely there and the music just drones on and on for about five minutes.
There are three remixes of “Sent To Destroy” and three remixes of “Prince Of E-Ville.” The best of these comes at the end, courtesy of Madison, Wisconsin’s Caustic. Driven by a thundering, distorted rhythm and possessing the kind of dynamics the original version should have put across it doesn’t overstay its welcome, coming in at just under four minutes. Unfortunately it does utilize the crappy vocals, which could have been left alone. Also noteworthy are some fairly good mixes by Rotersand and Suicide Commando.
Ultimately it would be a better idea to wait for the full length album and hope that it’s more solid than this brief collection, unless you’re a die-hard fan. If The Frost EP can be considered any kind of indication, LePlegua may have finally stretched himself a bit too thin. One can only hope this is not the case.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I would ordinarily be a full on defensive fangirl over the hint that anyone may be deprecating my Andy, but I think you’re a bit right.
The general sound quality and instrumentation seems marginally better on Frost than WTFIWWYP, but the over arching feel, vocals, and intensity remain pretty static.
I have to suspect that this may have been intentional rather than a result of over stretching as you suggest. The ComibiChrist sound is selling well for Andy and it sounds like he’s just throwing more of the saem out their for the fans. This is classic Marilyn Manson style marketing – just give people what they want until it stops selling and then become something different, or just give a twist to the flavoring of the same old stuff and sell it in a new package. It’s all about marketing here, and right now, the sound he’s got is selling.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:37 am
[...] 20th. You can preorder a copy on the Metropolis website. Hopefully it will be far better than The Frost EP, which was released this past summer. “Kickstart The Fight” features vocals from Gen of [...]
January 19th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
T.W.A.A.D is one of the best Combi-albums thus far, in my well experienced opinion.
After the numerous epic albums pumped out by the industrial factory known as Leplegua, I would have to say, Demons is really one of the most audibly tolerable albums to come out in the last 8 months, at lest.
Sent To Destroy is without a doubt the tip of this ice cold steel machine. Building up to all this is the also epic All Pain Is Gone, which is one of the most well constructed, and lyrically intense songs I’ve crammed into my ears, in some time.
Everything, right down to the amazing voice mail screaming at far side of the album, is absolute entertainment, at it’s best. All of this, of course, creates a very “Demonic” vibe indeed.
Now all that remains to be heard, is the “Dark Side” portion of this release.
I urge everyone, Combichrist fan or not, to check out this new album. Surely not a regretful purchase, for anyone into electro, industrial, or of course, aggrotech.