Complications

(Decibel)
by Angela Dauthi

It’s rather strange when you get a compilation and it all sounds like the same band. I’m still not sure whether Complications sounds this way because Decibel chooses a specific sound to sign, or whether all the bands are unimaginative and imitative. I’m not even sure if I like it or not. It’s all electro-industrial, mostly mid-tempo, and entirely familiar. The bands featured are Alien Faktor, Oneiroid Psychosis, and Morpheus Sister. Twelve songs, four each, all remixes. As I said before, I can’t really tell the difference. Maybe it’s the remixing. Aside from the parallel sound, the music is evil and immoral, sinister vocals muttering and screaming (with the inevitable distortion effect, of course). The sequences are ominous and spooky at times, and violent at others. All in all, it’s pretty standard. Each song is competent, but none of them really grabs me, throws me in a chair and slaps me silly. I’ll undoubtedly use it as unimposing background music for leafing through some S/M book by that prolific author “Anonymous.”