Earth Loop Recall ‘Compulsion’

It is rare that a press release actually contains a useful band description. In this case, Earth Loop Recall themselves write: “Think The Holy Bible by Manic Street Preachers. Add The Process by Skinny Puppy, AEnima by Tool, Mezzanine by Massive Attack, Never Mind the Bullocks by the Sex Pistols, and In Utero by Nirvana. And maybe Grace by Jeff Buckley. Then you’ll be mid way there.” A tall order perhaps, and I’m not sure I hear all of these influences, but it paints a fairly accurate picture.

What we have here is crossover industrial in the vein of Sister Machine Gun, Stabbing Westward, and Gravity Kills. The difference is unlike much of the pop industrial scene, I could easily see many of these songs breaking into the alternative rock market. Despite the coldwave guitar attacks and stock NIN-beats, Earth Loop Recall sound closer to Bush than to Nine Inch Nails, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Fuzzy Brit rock guitar lines and the evocative vocals of singer Ben McLees keep the songs from becoming bogged down with electronics, which are, in this case, of secondary importance to solid song writing. The industrial component is still there and competently executed, but this is really more of a rock album than anything else. Crossover industrial fans will find much to like here, but Earth Loop Recall will find a much broader base than that.

For more Gothic-Industrial content, along with other electronic music genres, please see the following:

• amGod ‘Dreamcatcher’ Box Review
• Cock E.S.P. / Panicsville: Last Train to Cocksville (review)
• Doormouse: Freaked Out Mess (review)
• Doormouse: Messed Out Freak (review)
• Jihad | Live In Bratislava 28-02-2015 – Dark EBM Souls
• N3VOA: Wasted Memories (review)
• Red Reflection: Prelude to Annihilation (review)
• Rob Gee: Na Na / Fuck Osama Bin Laden (review)
• Suicide Commando: [Cause Of Death: Suicide] [One Nation Under God]
• Ulver: Teachings in Silence (review)
• Ulver: A Quick Fix of Melancholy (review)
• Various Artists: Interbreeding II: Industrial Mutation

This review was originally written for Industrial Nation Issue #21, published in July of 2005 (estimated). There were 15,000 copies printed.

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