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Retro Review: Test Dept. ‘Tactics For Evolution’

Published

14 years ago

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This month’s Retro Review brings you to a group that is considered one of the founders of industrial music: Test Dept. Originally formed in 1981 in London, Test Dept. was considered a group that created music as a means of revolt to the surrounding events of the times. Their use of unconventional instrumentation (including pipes, metal beams, and other dilapidated construction equipment) gave their sound a very raw, mechanical tone that was often jarring and jolting to the senses. As time went on, their sound became progressively more techno inspired, although the mechanical influences stayed with them. Their final album, ‘Tactics For Evolution’, was released in 1997. Check after the jump to read my opinion!

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The album opens up with ‘Enigma of Doctor Dee’, a track that constantly inspired images of ‘Tetsuo: Iron Man’ in my mind. The main base repetition sounds like a distorted alarm mixed with the sound of two metal sheets hitting each other. Layered on top of that, quite often, are the sounds of crows cawing while menacing and ominous music floats overhead. The end result is very ‘’Cronenberg’’; a mixture of the mechanical and the organic (seems like this theme is pretty popular this week). Though not all of the following tracks share this eerie feeling, ‘Enigma of Doctor Dee’ casts a pervasive feeling of creepiness. 
The production on the album is very modern sounding: You could easily assume that the album was recorded within the past few years. One of the joyous things about this album is that with each listen, as is often with electronic/techno/industrial albums, new sounds and new layers will emerge. The variety of sounds and tones and patches used on this album would probably inspire an electronic musician to no end. However, for the casual listener who may not notice such intricacies, ‘Tactics For Evolution’ makes for a great background CD when you want to creep your friends out. 
The impact that Test Dept. has had on the electronic scene cannot be refuted or argued. Through a long and passionate history, Test Dept. has shown that music can represent a society that wishes for change or, at the very least, some sort of a noticeable impact. ‘Tactics For Evolution’ is an album that will subtly worm it’s way into you, grab hold and not let go. My only complaint is that often, the main theme of the song doesn’t change. It is constantly there and the rest of the music just builds on top of that. Some change in the base theme could easily help many of these songs. 
4.5 out of 5 skulls
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Movies

Original ‘Godzilla’ Soundtrack Gets 70th Anniversary Vinyl Pressing from Waxwork Records

Published

4 days ago

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November 1, 2024

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Ishirô Honda‘s Godzilla officially turns 70 on Sunday, but Waxwork Records is kicking off the festivities early with the original soundtrack on vinyl.

Akira Ifukube‘s iconic score has been re-mastered and pressed on colored vinyl. It’s housed in a gatefold jacket with matte satin coating featuring new artwork by Robert Sammelin.

An art print insert is also included.

Waxwork previews, “The film’s score by Akira Ifukube has become an instantly recognizable piece of film music. Given only the script and a week in which to compose, Ifukube crafted a score that feels as enormous as the kaiju himself. Godzilla’s theme has become a staple of nearly all subsequent Godzilla films and was considered by Ifukube to be the greatest piece of music he had written.

“Using low-pitched brass and string instruments, Ifukube gives the score a massiveness and weight that complement the terror and destruction brought about by the rampaging monster. Ifukube also used a deeply resonant stringed instrument to create Godzilla’s iconic roar, a trick used to create the roar throughout the franchise.”

Godzilla: 70th Anniversary Edition original motion picture soundtrack is up for pre-order for $32.

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