Hà; People 3 55 – One Bear, Two Bicycles And One Xylophone (CD Album – Wool-E-Discs)
Genre/Influences: Industrial, death-industrial, experimental.
Background/Info: The name of the project, the title of the album, the global impression and the symbolic on the front cover all remind me of the legendary Belgian band à; Grumh. Hà; People 3 55 (referring to one of the most famous titles of à; Grumh indeed features the legendary band singer J∆3 SEUQCAJ (Jacques Meurrens) and J∆55 EKOJ who joined hands with à; Grumh for a live gig during the past few years. The CD format has been strictly limited to 300, and features an artistic 6 panel DVD digipak.
Content: This work takes us back to the essence of early industrial music. It has an apocalyptic sound, which is heavily bombastic and sometimes reminding me of early Swans for its industrial guitar playing. Industrial percussions and an impressive noise canvas have been added to the composition. But the tracks also have something disturbing because of the freaky, obscure sound atmospheres hanging over the work.
Last, but not least J∆3 shows us to be a charismatic frontman. I can’t speak about ‘singing’ but more a kind of commanding and exclaiming type of vocals, which create a great match with the music.
+ + + : Hà; People 3 55 remind us of the power and essence of good-old and I dare to say ‘true’ industrial music. It’s much more creative and artistic than the industrial movement featuring an endless number of artists operating behind laptops. This is industrial music with a truly spirit and when it concerns à; Grumh with a huge rock’n’roll doses. The vocals are simply impressive for the passion and the power emerging from J∆3. You feel a kind of perverted intercourse between vocals and music. This is an overwhelming production featuring an impressive tracklist. I also have to say a word about the artistic and somewhat ritual-like artwork.
– – – : The artwork is great, but you need a magnifying-glass to clearly distinguish the name of the band.
Conclusion: Hà; People 3 55 is an absolute revelation and one of the most creative industrial releases I’ve heard in years. This album stands for the original spirit and sound of the industrial music movement and I’m convinced it still makes sense today. Brilliant!
Best songs: “Mörtsugel”, “Agony”, “Reveza”, “Traitors To God”, “Infierno”, “Forgive And Forget”.
Rate: (9).
Since you’re here … … we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive. If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you. The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
