Necro Facility
Wintermute
Progress Productions
Apparently this album is quite the Big Deal in the synth/industrial world and it's not too hard to understand why -- Necro Facility's music is essentially catchy, angst-ridden emo/pop/mallpunk performed with keyboards as opposed to guitars. I don't mean that as a diss either; while it's not the sort of thing I'd ever seek out on my own, I know well-crafted pop when I hear it no matter what subgenre affectations it assumes and there's no denying that "Wintermute" has sure-fire mainstream crossover appeal. If you like My Chemical Romance or Nine Inch Nails, you'll probably like this a lot and hopefully it'll lead you deeper into the underground. Also, if you find yourself strangely drawn to those weird, seemingly out-of-place techno parts that crabcore bands sometimes employ, you might dig this too. Me, I think it sounds a lot like a shiny, polished version of Skinny Puppy's "The process" with Ogre's brilliant abstract lyricism and heavily processed vocals replaced by crowd-pleasing singalongs and a smattering of those good cop/bad cop dual vocalizations that make me sigh and feel old. Again, no disrespect intended -- I have no doubt that Necro Facility made exactly the record they wanted to make and their target audience will justifiably love them for it. There's nothing wrong with that at all.
- Avi Roig
