SUICIDE COMMANDO ANTHOLOGY DOUBLE COMPILATION DEPENDENT RELEASE: DECEMBER 9, 2002 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 3, 2003

There are a lot of naysayers who enjoy calling Suicide Commando a Klinik tribute act. Allow me to state an often overlooked fact: the project has been around since 1986, a mere two years after The Klinik emerged. And while Klinik has moved beyond their origins, Suicide Commando have further explored that dark, oppressively cruel musical world. This disc is an excellent one for those who are not fans, which I suspect is who it is aimed at.
For the fans, this may seem to be a bit of overkill when you consider the rabid nature of most Suicide Commando fans. But even though 98% of the tracks here has been previously released, it is the very impressive arc which this compilation offers that makes up for the lack of a larger measure of unreleased material; they did an album entitled "Chromydioxyde 1" back in 2000 to satisfy that angle anyway.
From the early mania of "Never Get out" to recent songs such as "Dein Herz, Meine Gier", Johan van Roy has charted the maniacal and somewhat luridly compulsive side of human existence. The fact that so many of his vitriolic little diatribes have become club hits the world over only serves notice that he's on to something. And no, the music is rather straight forward and aggressively produced. Big deal. Suicide Commando are an unashamedly EBM-driven project. While a lot of his contemporaries have attempted to evolve and wound up delivering albums which are shamefully commercial in their crass appeal, Suicide Commando have honed and perfected their style while carrying the torch pretty much by themselves in these dishonourable days of future pop. For this, they are to be commended. "Better off Dead", "See You in Hell", "Love Breeds Suicide", "Murder"... they're all here.
The second disc contains two previously unreleased versions of the songs "See You in Hell" and "Desire". Why, he's even included a cover of Klinik's "Sick in Your Mind". Obviously, the man has no fear of what people think.

PETER MARKS