Cybernet Intro
Corupt
Traseu Periculos
Deliberat
Sabotaj Viral
Conectat
Keep
Ce Simti
Dark Mission
Deliberat (Julian M remix)
Conectat (Sattelite Empire remix)

The second release submitted by the Romanian label F.I.R up for review is the debut release by Infectator Com. Consisting of Dacian Valcu and Cosmin Lancu these artists also appeared on the compilation "Compendiu de muzica electronica". It should be noted that at the time of writing Dacian Valcu remains the main man for this act. Further information can be found on his website www.infectator.da.ru - which is worth a few minutes of anyone's time. Not totally finished I hasten to add but its getting there. Like fellow label mate Narkoleptik [read review here] he / they are part of the growing Romanian underground scene. Unlike Narkoleptik his / their music covers a broader musical spectrum and will therefore appeal to a much wider audience. This release includes the untitled 7 track demo in its entirety from 2002 and a further 4 tracks - with 2 being remixes. Information on how limited this 11 track 46+ minute CDR remains scant. Best contact the label regarding availability if your interest is aroused after reading this review.

The term Industrial music is now wildly overused and overstated. Anyone with a memory harking back to the very early days will know this. The whole Industrial music genre got hijacked a long time ago by the addition of guitars, samples and beats. Not only that but other musical genres were thrown into this melting pot with a scary abandon which further undermined the whole scene. Pure Industrial music is a thing of great rarity. There are few practitioners, and even fewer releases, that remain true to the spirit of this once great musical genre. Infectator Com classify their music as Industrial. This is NOT the Industrial of my time but the more modern update that has become so popular. This point needs making because modern Industrial is more far reaching and pleasing on the ear. "Corupt" captures this take on the music perfectly. The sounds that abound here mix a harsher EBM influence with dark ambience and subdued noise effects over samples and slightly paranoia inflected vocals. Rhythm is King on "Corupt" - with the added effects acting as the courtiers in waiting. Reminds me of early Frontline Assembly, before they went all techno, but with a darker edge to the whole proceedings. Or even Tumor or Terminal Choice. There's nothing more I can add in regards to this music.

Actually I will add something more. This whole rhythmic Industrial scene, as I believe they sometimes call it, is overflowing with assorted acts all scratching and scrabbling for a piece of the same pie. You've only to go to a certain UK retail website to see the competition that gets released on a weekly basis. But I don't buy that sort of stuff anymore, used to mind a long, long time ago, so to hear "Corupt" made a refreshing change to the usual music I'm more into. It was a guilty pleasure, but not one that I would actively shout about from the rooftops. I have a reputation to uphold you know - and I won't be rushing out to buy similar sounding releases (have enough of that already in my collection gathering dust) but it was a refreshing change from all the noise that normally assaults my ears.Therefore I'll begrudgingly (and out of a certain amount of respect for the music) recommended it to the EBM fraternity amongst you. Industrial music purists will just have to bide their time until something better turns up like the rest of us.

ANM