Covered In Black
An Industrial Tribute to AC/DC (Cleopatra)
by Steve Tremain
AC/DC’s music is all about raw, live, high energy rock ‘n’ roll, with overblown distortion, sex, and… well, sex. But we all know this. Or do we? Cleopatra’s latest excursion down memory lane is Covered In Black, and for the most part, it features industrial bands that have somehow missed AC/DC’s tried and true formula: Take one part nasty guitar, one part headbanging drums, one part squealing stuck-pig vocals, and ROCK OUT! The beautiful thing about AC/DC was their utter simplicity, even when bringing bagpipes in for “It’s a Long Way to the Top.” Some of these industrial bands obviously can’t handle that concept, although I don’t really see the point of even trying. AC/DC did such a good job the first time around, anyone who’d cover them would simply sound like poor imitators (a noted exception are Skin Graft’s Sides 1-4, where bands like Shellac and Palace Music completely fuck with the original songs almost beyond recognition). Anyway, now that we’ve got the introduction over with, a quick look at the songs. The Electric Hellfire Club miss the live electricity that AC/DC gave “Highway to Hell,” while Die Krupps try to artsy up “It’s a Long Way to the Top,” throwing in too many complexities. The song structure collapses under the weight of so much frivolity. Not all of it is bad, with Genitorturers sexing up “Squealer,” and Godflesh putting a powerful dirge stomp onto “For Those About to Rock.” One of the stand-outs, Godflesh know to keep it simple. The slightly slower tempo and outrageous distortion feedback over a one note bassline stick to the simple power of the original, fattening it up, making it monstrous. Joined at the Head put out a surprisingly accurate Bon Scott vocal on “Whole Lotta Rosie,” with the rest of the band sounding like an AC/DC cover band, with wimpier distortion. There’s no real reason for this one, it doesn’t add any new element to the song, which, really, is what a cover’s supposed to do. It’s a good song, played well, but why not just listen to the original? I guess that’s the problem with tribute albums. You don’t want to hear the same thing as the original, but at the same time, you can’t just alter it slightly, because the song will just sound unstable. You have to completely break down the song and restructure it, like Pigface vs. Sheep on Drugs do, with “Back in Black.” It’s become an industrial reggae dub, with a fluid bassline and processed vocals over off beat guitar and a half time drumbeat. Birmingham 6 try to techno up “Thunder Struck,” and fail. It’s just a bad industrial techno tune now. “Hell’s Bells” is given a kinda creepy feel via Razed in Black, but it’s actually pretty tepid. Huh? What? Did Psychopomps play something? Hmm, I musta dozed through it. Well, it sort of goes that way through the rest of the album, ending up with 16 Volt giving an interesting, but ultimately unmemorable version of “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” So, there’s some good stuff, but it’s mixed with a lot of bad stuff too. Caveat Emptor!
