V/A Forms Of Hands 20 (Album – Hands)
Genre/Influences: Industrial, Industrial-Techno, Experimental.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: The German Hands label is without a shadow of a doubt one of the Industrial leading companies of this scene. Hands this year celebrates its 30th anniversary while the legendary label compilation “Forms Of Hands” celebrates its 20th anniversary. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual festival was postponed to 2020, but the compilation is still there to please the fans of Industrial music. Fourteen bands have been selected!
Artists: >1979<, Last Days Of S.E.X., Maschinenkrieger KR52, MS Gentur, Mono No Aware, Ah Cama-Sotz, Orphx, Strobo.Lolita, MDD, Proyecto Mirage, Greyhound, Nullvektor, Monolith, Winterkälte.
Content: This sampler gives the listeners a perfect summary and taste of the Hands roster. There’s a mix of ‘traditional’ Industrial and Rhythmic-Noise bands (Greyhound, Last Days Of S.E.X…) and more contemporary Industrial terrorists, mixing Industrial- and Techno music (Ah Cama-Sotz, Orphx, Strobo.Lolita, Monolith…). Somewhere in between you’ve the minimalism of projects such as Nullvektor and Proyecto Mirage. This compilation is hard and danceable, but still diversified.
+ + + : When you just have a look at the tracklist, you know why Hands is one of the leading labels of Industrial music –and probably ‘the’ leading one… the number of big names is impressive. Artists such as Orphx, Monolith, Winterkälte, Ah Cama-Sotz and Greyhound don’t need any further introduction, but can even after years of involvement still take me by surprise. I also have to mention one of the new signed bands, Strobo.Lolita also took me by surprise and has recently released a great debut opus. The comeback of Proyecto Mirage is another major thing.
– – – : Each compilation has its favorites and others that can’t totally convince me; luckily there’s nothing to throw away here.
Conclusion: No festival this year; but F*** the pandemic! Here’s the twentieth chapter of “Forms Of Hands” and I can tell you, it’s a great vintage!
Best bands: Strobo.Lolita, Proyecto Mirage, Monolith, Ah Cama-Sotz, MS Gentur, Orphx.
Rate: (8).
Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official
About Forms Of Hands
“Forms Of Hands” is the long-running compilation series of the German label HANDS, which marked its 30th anniversary in 2020, the same year the series reached its twentieth edition. That year’s usual accompanying festival was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the compilation itself still gathered fourteen acts from the HANDS roster, including Ah Cama-Sotz, Orphx, Monolith, Proyecto Mirage and Strobo.Lolita.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
