Andro-Dioxin – Suicidal EP
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Label: Engraved Ritual
Website: androdioxin.webs.com
Review by: Michael Faries
From just below the southwestern border of the United States, in Tijuana, Andro-Dioxin is set to release their Suicidal EP, the follow-up to last year’s Dioxin City. Having been one of the most notable songs on the Engraved Ritual compilation album, Synthetic Rage, “Suicidal†is the main focus of this presentation, and gets the remix treatment by a handful of artists that take a similar – albeit slightly unique – take on the track. I dutifully compare the slight differences in the remixes to the method of choice of [your] suicide.
The original version of the title track is situated first, and it flexes its muscles, forcefully. The vocals are the highlight of “Suicidalâ€, as they have a heavy sound, without the feeling of being overly-processed. The distant, but surrounding sensation of the eventual screams, “Kill..Your..Selfâ€, is joined by an irritable Harsh EBM beat and stabbing synth tracks that will leave you convinced that your end is nigh.
Like I stated previously, the four remixes of “Suicidal†are all a little different, but tend to not stray too far from the original. The best alternate version to be heard here is done by Larva. Their version takes the vocal-reverberation approach, and keeps the focus on the surrounding nature of the song. The vocals and synths are processed through extension, allowing the beat that’s added to make the song more compatible for a dancefloor smoke and light show.
Traumatize puts the vocals on the back-burner, and accentuates their treble-heavy, Harsh EBM beat, while Ed-X Kaotyka’s bass-heavy beat shakes the song and the walls. Fellow Engraved Ritual artist Subliminal Code lend a hand, giving this “Suicidal†drum beat an odd, Rock ‘n’ Roll/EBM sound. This remix isn’t bad, and it does manage to stand out, but its sound is fairly uncharacteristic of Subliminal Code.
Wrapping up the album is “Forever (Mordacious Remix)â€, a track that surprises not because of the fact that it’s not a version of “Suicidalâ€, but because it sounds like it’s a remake by Mordacious of an Andro-Dioxin song, as opposed to a simple remix. As far as the listening ear can tell, Mordacious contributes all of the vocals and creates the sound of the music on this track, making me wonder why they called it a remix at all. Upon further investigation, though, Mordacious is indeed not the vocalist heard here. I won’t drag you further into my confusion, but I will tell you that this song is a pretty-great, Dark Electro song – so long as you don’t mind Everth Dioxin’s non-effected vocals in a poem-recitation cadence.
As remix albums go, Suicidal EP is quite repetitive, but there happen to be enough interesting takes on the Andro-Dioxin song to make this short release worth your checking out.
Tracklisting:
- Suicidal (single version)
- Suicidal (Traumatize Remix)
- Suicidal (Subliminal Code Remix)
- Suicidal (Larva Remix)
- Suicidal (Ed-X Kaotyka Remix)
- Forever (Mordacious Remix)
Purchase/Download Suicidal EP from Engraved Ritual.
