CRYO HIDDEN AGGRESSION ALBUM PROGRESS PRODUCTIONS RELEASE: FEBRUARY 24, 2010 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 19, 2010

EBM in Sweden these days is a lot about "old-school". We have the whole DAF soundalike and Jägerbody scene, and other bands making stuff in the style of the Wax Trax/Vancouver era. Martin Rudefelt - Cryo - can also be seen as making "old-school", drawing a lot of influences from Front 242 and the 90:s European industrial sound. This is a pretty narrow genre, so there is only so much you can do with it without leaving it completely, but Cryo adds a modern touch to it with extremely slick production, cold, high-tech electronics and solid song writing skills.

Cryo's first album was a great debut, and this sophomore full length recorded in both Sweden and Paris continues in the same tradition, but shows more maturity and a deepening of his skills. We also get some female company in the form of Martin's sister Karin (from Karin Rudefelt & Doctor Blues) singing on the grooviest track on the album, "Counting Down Again". My personal favourites are "Weitergehen" where Cryo takes on the dancefloor head on and celebrates a crushing victory, and "Contract Killer". The latter is a superb slow and epic ballad, moody as hell, with sweet strings over a bubbling bassline. There are some other gems on the album as well, but I'll let you discover them for yourselves. And you should.

JOHAN CARLSSON