CoC : Con-Dom / The Grey Wolves - Many Are Called But Few Get Up : Review

Con-Dom / The Grey Wolves - _Many Are Called But Few Get Up_
(LOKI - Power and Steel, 2002)
by: Alvin Wee (7 out of 10)

Con-Dom opens up Side A of this split 12" with more restraint than we're accustomed to, stitching muffled samples of declamatory voices (largely unintelligible, contributing more atmosphere than message) into a rippling fabric of crackling and sonorous cosmic dronings. The subsequent "Hate Crime" takes us back to familiar tongue-in-cheek Con-Dom territory with a direct song sample clearly recalling the artist's obsession with black/white race wars, segueing into a blizzard of derogatory ranting with another droning backdrop, more industrial/mechanical than before but quite surprisingly avoiding their trademark power electronics violence throughout. Highly atmospheric and stimulating, setting the stage nicely for The Grey Wolves' more direct assault on Side B.

"Goin' home" seems to consist of one long sample (from some movie?) set to a curtain of typically high-pitched electronic squealings and subtle mid-range waves; taken out of context it lacks the orchestrated conviction of Con-Dom's material (although remaining an excellent track). Something which is taken up rather nicely by the caustic title track, an angry voice spitting out the words of the title to a seething mass of mid-range analogue distortion, building up to an inexorable, blood-boiling climax of the words "my eyes are burning". Bringing together two of the most (in)famous names in the power electronics is bound to conjure up high expectations -- which are well met by this lamentably short offering.

Contact: http://www.loki-found.de

(article published 27/6/2003)