IC 434 THE BANISHED ALBUM BODY RELEASE: JUNE 3, 2002 REVIEW: JUNE 4, 2002

Are all names taken? First this was called Tales of Doom, then IC 434. It is a Belgian project with a name ended by numbers, released on Dirk Ivens Body Records. We get the message.
This is body music the way it sounded in the beginning of times. And I'm not the one who say no to classic hard electronics reminiscent of the Klinik glory days or the primitive first steps of Front Line Assembly. This is a strong album, although not special, and Geert de Wilde of IC 434 obviously knows what he is doing. He has been a musician for a dozen of years and previously released "Weathering Skies" (1996) and "Dogondance" (1998).
But we have heard every piece of this before, both the rhythmic and the slow tunes. If it hadn't been for George W Bush in "Our Great Nation", I would have guessed this was a EBM album from the eighties I had missed. If you don't have issues with pure retro sounds, you're in for a nice treat. This is far better than many modern electro bands. No sounds from techno, rock, metal, trip hop to be heard anywhere... Just good old body, nothing more nothing less.

MIKAEL KAHRLE