Over the last year or so I’ve been writing album reviews for this site as a way of adding content easily. I’ve been doing this in the knowledge that anything I’ve bought in terms of EBM would be reviewed once I had completed my pre-2011 albums.
The very first album reviews were written in April 2013. I started adding them because it’s a way of expressing myself and writing communications on this site. I also thought it would be interesting to see what I would write about the music and how it affects me.
For the last few years I was missing all the electronic albums off when going through the music on my NAS drive. I thought that my original plan was to write reviews of metal stuff and then start again on the EBM stuff. Last night I found out I was wrong.
I was watching Aesthetic Perfection with my niece and looked up on this site when I had seen AP before and whether she was with me or not. As part of the search results where were some album reviews of the AP stuff. I was a little surprised as I didn’t think I had written them.
Now I’m stuck. I’m going to have to go through all the album reviews to see where I finished the EBM stuff and then eventually, once I’ve finished my current plan of only metal reviews, I’ll go back and fill in all the music that I’d started but thought I’d not done.
Last night I went to the O2 Academy in Islington with my niece to see Aesthetic Perfection. We drove into town as it just makes it easier to get home and not worry about running to get the last train. After arriving we had burritos for dinner and then headed to the venue.
Machine Rox were playing, this was a slight surprise as they weren’t on the bill as far as I knew but we watched them anyway.
Machine Rox
I didn’t mind them. The singer owned the dress she was wearing and that was excellent. I couldn’t understand what she was singing though and that seems to be a bit of a flaw. The drummer doesn’t really do much and the guitarist is pretty cool in his silver outfit and lights on his head. They were OK.
Next up was Amelia Arsenic. I hadn’t heard of her before this series of concerts and so was curious. She came on stage and explained that her band were stuck in Cincinnati and she’d been hit by a car the day before. She had a computer set up to play the music and her performance was really good. I could understand what she was singing and really enjoyed the show.
Amelia Arsenic
I can’t remember how many tracks she sang but I was impressed. On my next pay day I think I’ll be buying some of her work. I don’t think there are enough female artists in this genre and it’s good to see more. She had a wonderful confidence and even came and sang the last verse in the crowd.
Priest were up next. I’m still not sure what to make of this band. I enjoyed it for a while and his signing impressed me but the songs didn’t vary much and were built around his seemingly classically trained voice. I thought I detected a slight French accent but I may have been wrong there. Apart from the outfits there didn’t seem to be much going on stage.
Priest
I’ve just checked and the band are from Sweden, so that explains why I thought they were French. I did like that the singer called themselves:
The Cybernetic Trinity known as Priest
It was a nice touch. I don’t think I’d need to see more of them though.
The headliners were Aesthetic Perfection. I’ve seen this band a few times and have always enjoyed the show. They were the second EBM type band that I started listening to and so are one of my original favourites along with Combichrist. Also, now that Joe Letz plays with AP I think that means I have seen him perform more times than any other musician.
Aesthetic Perfection
I was curious to see how the band handled the new guitar influences on the new album but the keyboardist played the guitar on two songs and I think it worked. I like the new album a lot and so to hear the songs live was very exciting.
The band played a solid set and it was very enjoyable. It’s nice to be part of a crowd that really sings along and joins in. These guys are excellent showmen and the addition of Joe Letz brings the album sounds to life. I always think that live drummers add more to the sound than they cost. I really like it when electronic bands do that.
Classic Guitar Pose
This gig was good fun and I enjoyed it immensely. AP are still one of my favourite bands and I will continue to see them when they come over. A good solid evening of music.
