These guys were a revelation at Infest last year, all hard beats, and some great visuals. So, I’m a bit disappointed with this. It is not a full album – it is five new tracks and then seven remixes, something that usually drives me nuts. Especially when there are four versions of one track (Hell on Earth).

Aslan Faction

Sin-Drome of Separation
Label: Noitekk
Catalog#: NTK009

Listen on: Spotify
6/10

Note: First appeared in Black Harvest issue #6 October 2003

Not too much originality here – something not exactly a crime in electro, how many artists can you name that *do* sound truly original? (although Hell on Earth at least would not sound out of place on a Suicide Commando album).

The main problem in my opinion is that it all sounds a little clinical. The vocals, while distorted and hidden down in the mix, are suitably snarled, they seem a little flat and emotionless, a little, well, forced. Indeed the best track of the first four tracks is Event Decay – which a few samples apart is instrumental, and has a strange, off-kilter beat that speeds the track along – in stark contrast to the other tracks which seem to plod along in comparison.

A hidden gem though is track five, Weep For Me (the only one untouched by remixers), which sounds rather different again (more :wumpscut: than Suicide Commando), with less distorted vocals and quirky synth line that sweeps in and out to fantastic effect.

Of the remixes, most are just minor tweakings of the originals (generally with heavier beats), although the Fiendflug remix of Event Decay is worth a listen.