THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX
WETWARE
ALBUM SYNTHETIC SYMPHONY RELEASE: JUNE, 2000 REVIEW: AUGUST 11, 2000


I don't know exactly why, but I've always felt a certain sympathy for The Cassandra Complex, although I've never really listened to them. It might have something to do with the icy cool of the classic "One Millionth Happy Customer", but probably even more with the B-side of the "Grenade" LP - three mellow songs that reach a stunning peak in the epic "Motherad".
When they now return with a new album, they display the same dualism that has always haunted them: on the one hand, they try to make rough'n'tough gothic electro rock, but on the other, frontman Rodney Orpheus can't help but write a couple of simple love songs. That makes more than half the album rather unlistenable in my eyes. The dated cyber theme of the opening "VALIS", the silly decadence of "Twice as Good" and the pompous, Laibach-stiff "Dion Fortune" are all rather embarrassing, but then Orpheus suddenly strikes with the liberating banal "When I Fall in Love". The John Barry-dramatic "Theme from 'The Invisibles'" also hits the right spot, and the nine minutes of the ending "It's OK" feel surprisingly short.
"Wetware" will probably make all old Cassandra Complex fans more than happy. Me, I find myself in the same position as always - I still like them, but I won't listen to them that much.

KRISTOFFER NOHEDEN