:CD Revew: Distorted Memory – Archive (1999-2003) / Hand of God (Remixes)

Distorted Memory – Archive (1999-2003) / Hand of God (Remixes)
Label: NoiTekk
Release Date: October 7, 2011
Website: distortedmemory.com
Review by: Michael Faries

Back in October of last year, Distorted Memory released their NoiTekk-exclusive, double album Archive (1999-2003) / Hand of God (Remixes). Emanating from the Canadian city of Winnipeg and the mind of Jeremy Pillipow, Distorted Memory gives their out-of-print EP Left Alone to Die and some older unreleased tracks a new chance at life, while also providing a vast collection of remixes of the 2011 song “Hand of God”.

This release coincided with the growing popularity of last year’s Swallowing the Sun, an interesting album that was characterized by its fusion of World and Dark Electro music. That release saw a definite progression from the Distorted Memory heard on 2006’s Burning Heaven, but held true the bits of experimentation that Pillipow isn’t afraid to display, and automatically created a repeatability factor that was all its own. Archive digs deep and shows the early roots of this train of thought by presenting a sound that preceded the drastic shift in Industrial music throughout the 00s. There are many (seemingly) noticeable influences in this collection of early Distorted Memory songs – like Leaether Strip, Skinny Puppy and Funker Vogt – but none ever seem to overshadow DM’s own developing sound.

I’ve never had the opportunity to hear 2002’s self-released demo EP Left Alone to Die, but according to the track listing this new Archive only contains (title-wise) five of the seven tracks that were found there. “Raising the Dead” is my favorite out of that EP’s selections, and is probably the most current-sounding out of the lot. “Last Dying Breath” is also on par for the transitional-Industrial/EBM course, but has slight, uncomfortable moments of audio clipping that make me wonder if they were intentional, or just unavoidable.

The real Distorted Memory treats actually come out of the unreleased material from that era, though. “Infection”, “Beyond the Darkness”, and “Blindfold” are all fast-paced, creepily-maniacal beasts of fugly electronic music that we all love and expect. Call me narrow-minded, but “Necrophobia” will always make me think of “Necrophilia”. This Distorted Memory song is too similar-sounding in title – and too similar in bass programming to other Suicide Commando songs – to resist my pointing out. I recommend that you don’t miss this track, though, as it’s one of Archive’s best.

Now that you’ve had your history lesson, it’s safe to jump a decade, to where the “Hand of God” rests. The second disc of this set includes eleven different takes on this single, and features remixes by God Module, Shiv-r, and Acylum. Their remixes all stand up to an exceptional level of quality, as does Iszoloscope and NoiTekk-family member DYM (which – perhaps – has the strongest remix on this album), with their joyfully-abnormal takes on this song.

Distorted Memory’s “Hand of God” is so beyond the norm of your typical Industrial song that all of the artists that were selected to remix this track simply had to make it their own. As far as remix albums go, this one is pretty good. Most of the unmentioned mixes are faint replicas of the original, or easy to skip, but are all listenable.

Archive (1999-2003) / Hand of God (Remixes) will not only please the fans of Distorted Memory with its release, but will also intrigue the ear of fans of this century’s earliest Industrial morphing process.
Track listing:

Disc 1 Archive (1999-2003)
01. Darkness (Part I)
02. Hellfire
03. Raising The Dead
04. Infection
05. Illusion
06. Darkness (Part II)
07. Beyond The Darkness
08. Necrophobia
09. Obsession
10. False Prophet
11. Last Dying Breath
12. Trauma Fit
13. Darkness (Part III)
14. Blidnfold
15. Starvation
16. His Name (YHWH)

Disc 2 Hand Of God (Remixes)
01. Hand Of God (Radio Edit)
02. Hand Of God (Club Mix by Distorted Memory)
03. Hand Of God (DYM Remix)
04. Hand Of God (Acylum Remix)
05. Hand Of God (Lo Progression Remix)
06. Hand Of God (God Module Remix)
07. Hand Of God (Shiv-r Remix)
08. Hand Of God (Iszoloscope Remix)
09. Hand Of God (Detroit Diesel Remix)
10. Hand Of God (Stahlnebel & Black Selket Remix)
11. Hand Of God (Psykkle Remix)

Purchase Distorted Memory – Archive (1999-2003) / Hand of God (Remixes) from Storming the Base.
Download Archive (1999 – 2003) / Hand of God (Remixes) from Amazon MP3