act 196 · sonar · alien overdrive · cd tracklist: during the last ten years sonar has become one of the most well-known and appreciated rhythmic-industrial projects. countless releases and high-energetic live performances assured their top position in this genre. for those unfamiliar, sonar's sound can be described as synthesized outbursts, strategically placed samples and droning bass pulses, corseted in strict driving beats and minimalistic sequences. presently the sonar line-up consists of dirk ivens (dive, the klinik, absolute body control) and eric van wonterghem (monolith, insekt, absolute body control). alien overdrive displays sonar's professional skill in diversifying a well-known style of industrial music, making it fresh and exiting. the straightness of the tracks works perfectly as a catalyst that makes you move your body. then again, this music's specific feature is displayed subliminally, f.e. unusual syncopations ('vanished'), accentuations on the off-beat ('bad man') or a constant state of the rhythmic flux without an actual beat ('transfo funk'). the more often you will listen to it, the more you will discover. the three remixes at the end of this album make a fine addition; ranging from morgenstern's mixture of dark atmospheric soundscapes and pounding dance beats to german industrial legend marita schreck's 16th-note tekknoise and belarussian ambassador 21 who offers this release's fastest track - a powerful orgy of rhythmic assaults. this is the first sonar release on ant-zen in almost a decade - play at maximum volume! discography (excerpt) 09.2k6: more info: reviews: gothtronic this new cd of dirk ivens and eric van wonterghem is very much in the same vein as the latest dive album if you ask me, yet musicwise it has a sonar character. the approach is a bit more minimal than on previous sonar recordings, yet the result is more infectious and especially more hypnotising. this directly is illustrated well with the second track, titled 'consume'. further highlights on this excellent industrial-noise album are 'bad man', 'alien overdrive', 'red capsules' and 'transfo funk'. finally there are three remixes on this album, such as the remix of 'consume' done by morgenstern, who give it their distinct dark atmospheric twist, a teknoise remix of 'red capsules' by the german industrial-noise legend marita schreck and a punding fast and heavy remix of the titletrack 'alien overdrive' by the belarussians of ambassador21. sonar proves with this album that after ten years of activity they still are among the absolute top of the current industrial scene. (teknoir)vital weekly 548 terrorizer #152 |
