Cassette Review // Savage Cult // German Army (NEN)

€7 //
Edition of 45 //
https://nenrecs.bandcamp.com/album/savage-cult-german-army //

We begin with a slight rumbling, as if something from a horror movie is coming, and this builds into this louder roar like a Pole Position drone but it also feels quite unholy.   There is some singing buried in the background and it makes me feel like we are part of some kind of cult, hence the name.

   That rumbling comes back into the second song- percussion perhaps- and it brings with it this burst of light which sets off a hue for this song that makes it seem as if the general vibe should be peaceful and, yet, it's not.    There are these loud bursts coming through like electronic firecrackers.   It's loud enough to wake anyone.

Drums come in now for the third song and it's somewhere between that "Law & Order" theme vibe and something that ends in -wave, but maybe a synthwave or postwave.   The drums are just pounding, heavier and heavier, as the howls come from behind it making this primal sound.     Organs come through and this is just such a steady song of defiance.   It makes me feel as if we are on our way to war, which should give you the feeling that you can conquer anything while listening to it.

Slower beats and a buzz drone calm things down now.   We crossover into this otherworldly space with ghosts and the tortured, which reminds me a little bit of Nine Inch Nails, which is such a great place to be in.   As it grinds, scrapes, huge drums come in to really set the serious mood.   The intensity increases, the drumming is off the walls, and it just grows and grows until it hits that point where it just stops.

Though there is a little bit of beeping behind it, the flip side- the German Army side- opens with some big beats.   This turns into a wild electronic ride.   There is drumming on the next song, but it sounds a lot like sticks hitting a bucket with gentle tings behind them.   This is fast paced like "Spoonman" and makes me want to drive over the posted speed limit.    A series of light, electronic percussion and screeches/crashes becomes the next song which just feels like a pinball machine ride set in the world of Tron.

Lighter synths come through now with beats and it feels like a mix of "Pretty In Pink" and "Hackers", which is not something I ever expected to hear.   Heavily distorted vocals speak through it all now, like a sermon.    There are a lot of patterns which have that beeping sense, but aren't beeping- just a doot-doot-doot I suppose- and behind that is this slow, jawharp-like crawl and the two combine with other forces to make the type of sound only German Army can create. 

The sitar comes into the background now, making this one feel both magical and mystical.   Static skips now have that 1980's keyboard laser sound as words are spoken and this can make me think of something like Talking Heads, in a broad sense.    Beeps and deep beats now give off that submarine vibe, as if we're diving deeper and deeper underwater while this song plays.   Sounds like the keys of a typewriter come through now as well.   I imagine someone isolating themselves- being stranded at sea- and writing about it.   How those words would get back to land is up to you to decide, but this would be the soundtrack to it I'm sure.