Genre: Industrial / Electro /Darkwave

Track Listing:

01 The pinned man
02 Control
03 The bad seed
04 I know you
05 Sub-nality
06 Fornaicus
07 Relentless
08 My war
09 Gut (Entrails mix)
10 U better run
11 Falling down
12 Fists of love
13 An awakening

Roughhausen is the alter ego from Jeff Stoddard, one of the innovators of EBM back in the days when he played in Front Line Assembly and had the brilliant idea to include shaking guitar riffs to their seminal creation “Caustic Grip”. Back then it was the hit of the moment, Aggro has born, giving Metal a way to express through industrial music. Later on he joined Will, sideproject from Rhys Fulber that later conformed a cult band status. Roughhausen has released four previous albums experimenting with EBM in its more extreme aspects. “The agony of the beat” was released by the oriental label Tinderbox Records and the cd comes in a well crafted digipack with lyrics included. This is elaborated music for the dance floor but with a very insane touch and an addictive sense for rhythm, a must for the modern EBM aestheticist.

The agony of the beat is in fact Aggro-electro revisited, reloaded and improved. Extremely rhythmic centred as most releases related with the genre are. Dirty, energetically charged, sick, corrupted are all appellatives suitable to describe the work’s content and intention. The songs vary from strong electro influx with heavy walls of metallic riffs and distorted voice to very groovy programming full of distortion and harsh vocalizations. There is also time for experimentation to calm down the musical rage with more “peaceful” tracks, reminiscences from the work with Will. Mysterious ethno influences, Gregorian chants maintaining the danceable capabilities with dark atmospherics situating the work along the lines of a sinister Dark wave with extreme pounding percussion connoted in fat beats continuously revolting also the typical harsh tone noted in both voice and music harmonic sections (but without sounding clichéd) and bombastic modernity full of a militar feel.

There is also abundant instrumental excursions, with incredible and equally rhythmic perspectives, maintaining the presence and functionality of the work. Aspects to highlight for innovation, the tribal percussive introits (Fornaicus), Neo-classical touch and gothic sonorities, all very menacing and dark, giving this work the quality of music for dancing the end of times. In the more strict observation on its construction, the work Alternates between purely instrumental pieces to lyric based ones. Rather obvious to mention the synthetic feel present, so close to the machine, so far from the man, very few organic passages are present. Extremely faithful with the classic EBM conception maintains the principal character of the genre without subjugating the listener with the orthodox norm as the author is capable to bring not only excellent conception on chorus alignment with rhythmical power, addictive tunes and passages typical from the genre but also mixing it all with modern elements and sonorities that make it sound fresh and renewed, always authentic and exciting. Every second is compressed beat power with sharpy atmospheric edges, pounding and merciless but also giving time to recover through its complex passages coupled of harsh analog noise and more harmonic lines.

Really interesting work. Able to Re-rubberize classic EBM with new instrumental additions and adaptations and not intimidated to explore with further experimentation or to hurt the listener senses with their powerful rhythm demonstration or the aggressiveness of their piercing noise accompaniments and berserk electro abomination. Jeff is invocating all his past through this work, not only summoning expertise but the demonic power that this work is filled with and no one who listen could escape away from.