REVIEW: //Tense// - Memory

7.75 out of 10

Find it here.

Listening to bands like //Tense// and White Car not only puts a huge smile on my face, but also gives me the hope that Industrial music could finally return to it's roots. You know, before all of those "pesky guitars" and Heavy Metal Dance sounds got in the way.. If you're a fan of Industrial music it's no secret that the sound is (somewhat--pretty much) officially dead. The new "Industrial" scene, AKA "Club Metropolis" is in this reviewers opinion pure radio filth with no depth what so ever. Just because your rich parents bought you an expensive synthesizer when you were young and you live in New York and/or Germany gives you no right to rape and reduce a genre to the sad state it's in now. I'm sorry, but I am absolutely disgusted by today's "Industrial" music/scene. Leave the clubber music to the DJ's, leave the guitars to the Metal heads. If you want to be "Industrial", you can do it one of two ways (maybe a few more, but here are a couple basics); 1. Bang on sheets of metal, use a drill, hammers, found sounds, etc. Don't think form and construction, but rather improv & deconstruction. Think of it as a form of expression rather than trying to make a quick buck with a radio hit. 2. Shed light on the Industrial Revolution, no not the music kind. The concept/notion that shapes our entire civilization. Whether it's anti-establishment, dark poetry, or just plain hatred for society in general word these ideas in a way that is unique to your project. Do it with a simple drum machine, a couple synths, vocals, & maybe some samples, NOTHING ELSE (obviously you can use more instruments if you want. Just no you are swaying further and further away from the original concept of Industrial music with the more layers of "Pop" you add). Stop confusing you're shit EBM club music with the real deal. That being said, what is EBM? Electronic Body Music was once a term that referred to the early days of dark dance music where the mixing of Electronic Pop sounds & meaningful lyrics still had depth/originality. It was a somewhat short lived scene that still has it's hardcore fans. NOW there is another form of EBM you need to know about (not to be confused with the good kind) and that's today's "EBM" which is about the same concept but with tripe meaningless lyrics on top of Fruity Loops created beats, uninspiring scene kids, and the same synth sounds utilized by every band on previously mentioned label. It's the kind of music that could fit in perfectly at a top 40 Trance/Dance club or perhaps the headphones of a yuppy kid attempting to fit into some sort of lame suburban Goth club. Stop doing this please, it makes you lame. Seriously, don't you get tired of blending in just because it's hip? Doesn't listening to the same song over and over again get boring. Don't get me wrong, I like to dance and I even love a few morbid things, but originality means a lot more to these ears. If it isn't original, maybe it's more of an homage, it better be done right ..or not at all. Which is why I love //Tense//, they have mastered/captured the sounds of my youth quite perfectly. I can only keep my fingers crossed that people will catch on to these guys. Rivet head's, your new messiah has arrived. Dust off those welder goggles, bust out your collection of cogs, polish those black army boots. Do whatever it is you need to do to get yourself in the right mindset to listen to perfect sounding Industrial homage music.

"Memory", in many ways, is a history lesson in the ways of mechanized art. //Tense// know exactly what to do when it comes to writing simple, yet perplexing Industrial music. On the LP "Memory", they mix styles ranging from the darker somewhat experimental days of Wax Trax to the even earlier days of EBM (think Cabaret Voltaire, Nitzer Ebb, (earlier)Ministry, and maybe even a dash of "Pretty Hate Machine" era NIN). Although I do like their EP's a little more than this particular release, "Memory" is still a prime example of how I need my cold factory sounds. Brooding synth bass lines, simple electronic drum pad sounds, demented samples, and distorted vocals that sound pitch perfect underneath all of the madness. Personally I think everyone should eat up sounds like these, that is unless you live in a farming community where machines and electricity don't exist. //Tense// documents your community for what it is.

//Tense// brings a future back into past of the future Industrial music scene. An absolute 100% no-brainer for anyone into Wax Trax Records/80's - mid 90's Industrial music. "Memory" forms sounds that work best for dark drives through bright depressing cities. My only hope is that more bands like these will continue to pop up over the next coming months/years. Please don't let this be a short trend, please don't let this be a short trend, please don't let this..? RECOMMENDED.

Standout Tracks: My ears always crave sounds like these, so all of them are pretty good. Otherwise; Work Hard, Lost Race, Lead Head