It would be easy for me to write this review in one sentence. That sentence would be ‘this is simply ace and if you like angry electronic music you MUST get this’. However, I know you, dear reader, would like a little more than that, so I shall elaborate.
Be My Enemy are no strangers to the Rivetheads Radio show and the debut album ‘This Is The New Wave’ still gets a regular plundering when I’m in need of something up tempo, fat sounding and a bit pissed off. Headed by Phil Barry, formerly of Cubanate, Be My Enemy are back with album number two, and it is an absolute blinder.
From the ominous opening synth swell of ‘no Escape from the Prism’, this is an album that rarely relents. ‘Kill Your Television’ immediately steps in and grabs your delicates with a collision of ravey synths and guitars that bring to mind the best of recent latter day Prodigy and Pitchshifter, with electrodes strapped to their collective nipples.
As the album progresses, the tempo does let up a little on tracks like ‘To Protect and Serve’ and ‘We Own The Night’, losing none of the power but just attacking the ears in a different gear.
‘We Become Gods’ is an awesome tribal pounding beast of a track, underpinned by a rather retro sounding bass synth line and it paves the way nicely for things to be kicked back into top gear with the infectious ‘Party Monster’.
More than just a touch of early industrial Ministry is detectable in the structure and vocals of next track ‘Going Down’ which gets no complaints for me.
The closing three tracks of the album just raise the bar further, viscious drum and bass aggression, fat synths, acid vocal delivery and HUGE riffs of ‘The Raven’ and ‘Deprogram’ left me a little breathless.
The enerhy present throughout this release is thrilling. The sound is raw, bolshy and brash, yet still fabulously mixed and produced. The it is easy to draw some comparisons with bands of the DHR ilk, The Prodigy, proper guitar based industrial electro like KMFDM and Minstry and a dose of Pitchshifter, though these are all mied up and spat out as something that sounds entirely modern and truly Be My Enemy too.
Absolutely recommended.
