Tag Archive: BSL


Despair :: Rewired Riot TechnologyThe pure live Despair experience from Deserted Technology Riot (review here, buy from Music Non Stop) has been picked up, dropped into the audio shredder and put back together in novel new dance-mosh-friendly electro-technoise tracks. Rewired Riot Technology is a Despair album like no other and probably the coolest remixed album I’ve heard for a long time. The concept is similar to the twin Sins of the Flesh album (review here) that featured the original songs of the first CD and remixes on the second CD.

According to the official announcement Despair’s songs were “mangled and reprocessed into a unique and unprecedented sonic cocktail that takes the trademark beauty and brutality of Despair to new and unimaginable levels,” and that is not far from the truth.

Rewired Riot Technology starts with MPD Conflict: A New Model producing heavy noise and vocals cruising in on top of the whole noise-scape. It switches tempo several times during the song and gives doses of harsh sound and electro.

Jarring GOD: Rebel Action Remix just crashes the Jarring God original into a technoid beat with Ana at the center screaming out her anthem of mayhem, and Rieu’s deep growls coming in halfway through. This one is a daring track that would play well at a heavy club that allows moshing!

Mechanical Rabies: No Vaccine For You is one for the noise addicts playing more as a straight noise with glitch feeds and limited lyrics to emphasize the glitch-noise.

MPD Conflict: Mind Control Mix is a much more subliminal track with light glitch-noise and solid beat. The vocals are limited throughout the track and is certainly a track to chill out to (that’s alright).

Jarring GOD: The Devil Built My Beatbox mix is a heavy hellish noise-beat with vocals crashing down from time to time to give this song a real kick.

Aside from being a reference to cannibalism, Long Pig is also an interesting song, opening with sounds something like a monastery with Ana and Rieu’s vocals coming in later during the mix. The keyboards are a strong feature in this track creating a relaxing soundscape and with Ana and Rieu’s suppressed vocals make for a very easy-listening industrial track!

Junk Whore crashes open with Rieu’s belching out the evil in his vocals. The beat hits very hard here with Rieu and Ana beating down the noise. This one almost plays like a live Despair version and makes me want to get out and scream at someone.

MPD Conflict: A New Machine kicks in with serious industrial noise. Rieu and Ana get their freak on and deliver strong vocals throughout the song.

Becoming God starts with ambiance and a rolling voice-over. It is a very mellow track for the first half until the “Fuck tha’ Shit” sound sample cranks up the track to the heavy tech-noise. It springs out with a new anthem lyric from Ana – “Somebody fucked us. Who?” Amen guys, that rocks.

Overall the CD as remixed by keytarist, Jude, under the supervision of Rieu is one helluva piece of work! By the end of the CD I decided Rewired Riot Technology FREAKING ROCKS! This shows Despair in a new light with a mixture of heavy, and not-so-heavy sounds. It is unlike any Despair recording that I’ve heard before (sample or otherwise that I’ve managed to pick up) and works very well as the remixed version of Deserted Technology Riot. Despair fans with the original Deserted Technology Riot should really enjoy the added dimensions in this album and newbies should find Rewired Riot Technology a very accessible album. My personal favorites were the first MPD Conflict remix, Mechanical Rabies and Junk Whore

Despair :: Rewired Riot TechnologyRewired Riot Technology :: Track List
01. MPD Conflict: A New Model (4.33) Sample
02. Jarring God: Rebel Action Remix (4.11)
03. Mechanical Rabies: No Vaccine For Your Machines (2.58) Sample
04. MPD Conflict: Mind Control Mix (3.38)
05. Jarring God: The Devil Built My Beatbox (4.11)
06. Long Pig (6.29)
07. Junk Whore (3.43) Sample
08. MPD Conflict: A New Machine (3.35)
09. Becoming God (5.42)
Total time: 39:00
More samples available on Despair’s page.

You can find distribution on the DeathWatch Asia distribution list or buy direct from Music Non Stop internationally.

[Industrial and more!] This event it is definitely worth going to. The previous two Junk Baptisms even inspired Igor’s poetic side, which is a very rare thing indeed – perhaps this is a good thing. The truth is that Junk Baptism represents the alignment of hard electro-industrial units with past events including performances from Baal, Despair, Demonoid 13 (DJ Doomspider’s band) and Scorpian’s Death Rock. Get gothed up or industrialized and prepare for an exciting night.

BSL Junk BaptismThis time the lords of hard-techno-industrial, Despair, will be playing wih Utero Zzz Aaa, referred to as an industrial noise terrorists by one of Igor’s cohorts. So the live acts will be crashing waves of non-stop industrial sounds! They will be supported by DJ’s Kenzo A (Gadget., Stigmata), Raveman (Aural Vampire) and guest DJ Hecate from Switzerland.

Remember this is an all night event so you will need a photo ID to get in (people under 18 and/or high school students will not be permitted entry.

When: December 8, 2007 :: Junk Baptism #3
Where: Motion Shinjuku
Address: 5F Just Bldg. 2-45-2 Kabuki-Cho, Shinjuku, Tokyo :: 新宿区歌舞伎町2-45-2ジャストビル5F :: Map :: Google Map
Tel: 03-6825-5858
Live: Despair, UTERO ZZZ AAA (Osaka extreme noise)
DJ’s: Kenzo-A (from Stigmata) and Raveman (from Aural Vampire)
Guest DJ: Hecate (from Switzerland)
Open: 24:00
Price: 2,000 yen adv. :: 2,500 yen @ door

Two words describe this event… totally bitchin’. Brain Scan Laboratory’s inaugural Junk Children event was an awesome night of hot-core industrial sounds on stage and in the DJ box. This is just the beginning of something special.

I know I bluster. I w00t! with an abandon that could shame Molly Meldrum (nah, he ain’t got no shame), but hells bells, there’s some stuff out there that takes all my hyperbola and beats it to death against the amps, and Junk Children is just such an event. This event lived up to my expectations and more and I think all who turned up that night will agree it kicked ass with army boots.

Tight Focus
Anyone who has met the main players of the night know that they are all focused on building the total package. It’s an exceptional attribute in Japan’s underground live scene, where compromising with a general act or splitting the night between underground and general indy is tempting for getting the numbers. BSL went balls out to bring a total dark industrial night to the people and they won with an incredible show and quite a big turnout. In a nutshell, BSL went for gold and they got it.

Marz
Marz is a great little split-level space and nicely placed in Shinjuku area. Anyone over six feet should take care at the back of the bottom level, but otherwise there’s good space. Capacity-wise, I guess it could squeeze in around 100, so it worked nicely with the approx 80 people who joined in. The top level is kind of cute offering a full view of the floor below where most of the craziness takes place. The bar ran on tokens, which was a bit of an inconvenience for those of us who didn’t think to bring change for the token machine, but overall it worked pretty well. The deadly drinks were fun-tasting little concoctions, but I lacked the horse-kick I was hoping for. It’s a small quibble, but next time I hope the bar tender is a bit more generous with the shots.

Scene
The industrialists and the Goths were out in force. These guys and gals were dressed in line with Tokyo Dark Castle standards. From the dark lords and ladies to the goth-loli swooping across the dance floor it was pure eye-candy. There were a few street-cloven people tonight, but they were in the minority (yes, yes, Igor’s in the minority, but I’m a state-of-mind dreg).

Bands

Scorpions Death Rock
I saw these guys back in 2004 and they had an awesome power-metal performance with amps going up to eleven (report here). It was brutality incarnate with some of the hardest stuff I have ever heard in Japan, and it was great! This time they had totally changed to an incredibly sexy rock-industrial set in perfect sync with the night’s vibe. There is no mistaking it, these guys know how to deliver exactly what the crowd want. The lead vocalist had total control at the front had the crowd eating out of his hand. Great songs and great delivery, these guys are quality. Definitely a band worth checking at any event.

Demonoid 13
The Nagoyan live component showed that hard Goth rock is alive in central Japan. It was also fucking loud! Doom Spider has a powerful, guttural voice and took the central role onstage. The straight Goth-rock direction of the set was a bit different from the other acts during the night, but Doom Spider’s aggressive delivery and energy got most of the punters jumping. It would have been nice to see more of the other players getting into the fray at the front, but it was not a bad set at all and showed that the Nagoyan Goths have a lot of madness to deliver.

BAAL :: Baal on MySpace.com
What can I say – great delivery of some fantastic new hard industrial-rock sounds. Baal doesn’t hold back its performance and all the players know the craft well, making them a band you want to catch over and over again. U-Tarou’s femme vocals are powerful, splitting the anger with the sorrow and seeing her tear through the set is a sight to behold. Mikito’s calmly focused throughout the set with his axe and mixing the synth deck to pull the sound-scape together. Then there’s Chihiro on the drums (YES!), who’s got controlled madness in getting the percussion heard. It’s a grand mix of talents pulling off an aural attack that will excite anyone who likes industrial or tripping the darker side of rock.

Despair :: Despair on MySpace.com
Utter madness with an industrial sound assault delivered with the precision of a master craftsmen. Every time I see this band on stage (or off), I see a leading force in Tokyo’s industrial scene. The band is raw energy with Seiji on ax-synth tearing apart the air with an orgy of sound, and Rieu and Ana fighting back with vocalizations that will raise the dead. The sound drills right through you and the visuals are just as exciting with all three members getting lots of front time. Totally mind-blowing, totally exhausting, totally… just freakin’ TOTALLY!

DJs
A special mention goes to the DJs for mixing some great stuff. DJs Doom Spider (Stigmatic in Nagoya), 666Fox, Undermine (Despair’s Rieu), all kept the spirit of the night going between sets with their different flavors of sound.

Conclusion
Totally kicking. It knocked me out. It will know you out. Despair, Baal & company have pulled together a fine night of hot-core industrial event and rest-assured the Brain Scan Laboratory promotion is here to stay. Welcome to the start of the next-age…

Baal and Despair will both be appearing in October 29th’s Halloween edition of Tokyo Dark Castle.

Links to more information:

Event:
Brain Scan Laboratory

Bands:
Despair’s site
Despair on MySpace.com (samples!)

Baal’s site
Baal on MySpace.com (samples!)

Demonoid 13

Scorpion’s Death Rock (HELP! I can’t find them!!)

DJs
Stigmatic (DJ Doom Spider’s event in Nagoya)