Track Listing: We Won’t Stay Dead, Solitary Heaven, Shiver, The Source, One Up for the Dying, Burn, Heart of Black, See Me in the Mirror, Processing A Monster, In the Open, In the Crowd.

Sometimes you get an impression as soon as you open the CD. Anders Manga’s latest release has nice enclosure art and the CD looks like a little 45’ record. Very artistically snazzy and more akin to a big-label release. “One Up for the Dying” is Mr. Manga’s debut even though it hardly sounds like one. On par with such groups as Cruxshadows and VNV Nation, Mr. Manga can easily hold his own. Prior to reviewing this CD I had heard “Shiver” on a web radio station and had made a note to download. Both Frank and I think this one’s definitely a keeper.

According to his bio, “he became the all-time most downloaded goth artist at download.com with over 40,000 downloads in 2005.” This is why. The production is smooth and clean. The songs pull you in with driving purcussion, dark lyrics and catchy hooks. His voice is gloomy, strong and undeniably masculine – sexy. The arrangements are well balanced. I don’t feel the need to be too critical here since he’s catching on like wildfire in the scene. If you like the typical EBM fare you will absolutely like Anders Manga.

I was pleased to recognize “Shiver” but was impressed with how each song is very unique. Clearly, he knows his way around the keyboard and sounds palette. The variety of compositon and beat patterns is refreshing when so many other musicians seem to just create albums out of re-works on one main motif. And just in case you don’t want an entire album of bang-bang-bang, “Heart of Black” is a really nice piano ballad. Other members include, Sco, GarGirl, and Psychopsis who lend a hand with live performances, vocals and programming.

For more information, check out www.andersmanga.com

Track Listing: D.C., Glori, division in thirds, Tempest, Cup Of My Blood, Samhain Sister, Stone To Flesh, Burn, Trade, This World.

Hypodermic, like so many bands in the goth/industrial scene, started in the 1990s as another project. Members came and went, did side projects with other names, and whatnot. The end result of all this participatory musical chairs is a really different album which touches on most of the sub-culture sound genres; gothic, punk, industrial, speed metal, death metal, synthpop, and EBM. The experience of the band shows as the entire CD sounds more like a subsequent release than a debut album.

It’s no small task to hit so many genres and yet not sound like a different band each time. There is an omnipresent rock guitar presence that flexes from gothic splendor to punk thrash. Kudos to Mr. Vincent for his span because no matter what, he makes it work and sound continuous throughout the album. It’s easy to see where they pull influence from. The opening song, “D.C.” sounds Cure-ish, “Glori” like late Ministry, and “Trade” like vintage KMFDM. There’s pretty much a little something for everyone. It’s important to note that although every track sounds like something familiar, there is a unique way that Hypodermic crafts the songs that make them entirely their own blend.

The chord progressions are very basic and repetitive but in a more “old school” than “I just discovered my keyboard’s loop feature” sort of way. Although there is synth used, the overall feel is more real. In all the songs, except “This World” which is mostly unified, there is something surprising. For example, in “Trade”, which is this rather techno-oriented track, there is this little gloomy organ sound floating around in the background. In “Glori”, the entire feeling of the track switches back and forth between an industrial sound, to something more traditional goth-rock sounding. “Stone to Flesh” has industrial percussion, rock guitar and an ethereal synth overlay that I really liked.

Mr. Vincent’s vocals are rough, growly, and punky. As long as he’s singing fast, he does it well. Clearly he subscribes to the Andrew Eldritch, Al Jorgenson, Social Distortion, and Ohgr school of singing. Regardless, you never feel like the vocals do not mesh with the music which, considering the assortment of styles, is notable. Unfortunately, in some of the tracks, the vocals got a little lost due to mismatched levels. But that’s nothing a little more time in production couldn’t fix.

Frank, who is more rivety than Goth, ran around the apartment saying “Oh My Goth“ and “Where is My Clove Cigarette?“ He immediately noticed a clear Sisters of Mercy type sound and was surprised as the CD played out, as I was, that the style changed on later tracks. By the third track he was on board and once he heard it through, we downloaded in into our computer.

Hypodermic is Jonathan Vincent on vocals, guitar, programming, Myke Len on bass, baking vocals, and Otto on keyboards. On this release, they feature guest performances by Lori Gidley, an original project member, on Cello and bass, Brian Smith on drums, Shawn Hervey on drums, and Tony Hamera on drum programming. Mr. Hamera also aided Mr. Vincent with overall production.

For more information and downloads about this Detroit-based group, please check out their page on MySpace.

Track Listing: White Waters, All Hope Fails, In Defence, Turn To Light, We Serve, Prelude, Beyond Good And Evil, Fourth Law, The Longest Journey.

Initial Prayer is a hard group to pin down. There’s almost nothing about the artists online; when I Googled them, I came up with mostly Christian websites about the power of prayer which left me with just the CD. It seems they might either be a new group or a band of members from various other projects or a project from the 1980s.

The opening track of “the last men in europe” is a good indication of what’s going to unfold as the CD progresses. The sound is big, orchestral, dark and undeniably Gothic. Most tracks are arranged with an ambient melody over a driving, repetitive rhythm. Illustrating that orchestral feel, “turn to light“ uses a very convincing timpani percussion arrangement. It’s hard to say what’s synth and what’s not since they very effectively blend natural and synth sounds.

The songs seem to be arranged around the lyrics as an accompanianment to spoken word pieces. None have a conventional verse, chorus, bridge method. It’s a tad non-exciting but the music is more than dramatic enough to compensate. In “we save,” the spoken word verses are alternated with a more melodically layered segment, giving the illusion of a chorus/verse ordering which produces a conventional song effect. Frank and I both thought that this track would be very at home in a Gothic club setting, a sort of über-gothic Haujobb. One certainly thinks of gears turning, machinery pounding, and rivetheads marching.

All the songs on this CD really evoked imagery of foggy nights, Scottish moors, spirits conjured and post modern mayhem. “fourth law,” a lighter, piano instrumental, is especially cinematic and could easy fit in a score. Frank thought “the longest journey” reminded him of early Skinny Puppy, at first, although it morphed into something more synth. Again, this one was promptly added to our library.

Except for “we save,” none of the songs have very deliberate changes. Instead the music swells and fades in a slow, wave-like fashion. This is excellent home music and good to listen to while reading, perhaps stories of Arthurian legends.

For more information, please visit www.corrosivegrowthindustries.com

Track Listing: Breast Eggplant, Camera Up Uranus, GMO’s Meet PMS, I’m Not Perfect, Plastic Loves Global Warming, Buddha & The Blueberry Wizard, Error And Error, Mummy Crazy.

When I review a CD, I usually try to listen to it several times in order to get the full scope of the release. I also don’t want to jump to snap, emotionally-derived judgement about a fellow musician’s work. But I just couldn’t with this CD. I do not like experimental music. When I listen to it, my mind spends all its energy trying to make sense of it all, in vain, and I end up getting a headache, which I did.

All the songs are exactly five minutes long. They seem to just end without coming to any conclusion. There is no consistent structure or method to the compositions. It just goes on and on and it’s all quite noisy. Many of the songs feature a noise that reminds me of a motoring video game, engine revving, sound effect. It’s complete chaos, which I think or hope, is the point.

On the bright side, the songs are layered and rich. There is a lot going on in most of the tracks and in those that are slower and more simplified, you can tell there is significant thought being put into the arrangement. The underlying beat patterns are complex and well thought out which is nicely juxtaposed against the debacle that is the supporting melodic acrobatics.

Frank made notice that the beat signature is the same on almost all the songs which makes it seem like one long song instead of several tracks. He said had there been a little variation in the arrangements, it might have been a little more interesting to listen too. He made note of the exact five minute playing time for each song and feels this is probably more like noise art than actual music.

Not for the faint of heart, this CD is for extremely experimental/conceptual music enthusiasts who will appreciate the overwhelming noise and driving rhythms. For more information about Robert Ziino, please check out his website at www.experimentalartists.com