Noise Unit – Agitate / In Vain (Digital Single – Artoffact Records)

Genre/Influences: EBM.
Background/Info: Artoffact Records moves back into history. Together with the re-release of “Deceit / Struktur” we now get the digital version of “Agitate / In Vain”, which was the second and last 12” by the duo Bill Leeb (FLA) and Marc Verhaeghen (The Klinik). Both songs also appeared on the album “Response Frequency” originally released on Antler-Subway.
Content: Both songs were released in 1990 and that’s for sure an element you’ll easily notice. This work clearly sounds like late 80s – early 90s EBM and is the perfect offspring between both artists main bands. The sequences and of course the vocals by Bill Leeb are into pure FLA while Marc Verhaeghen injected his darker, experimental and more industrial tricks from The Klinik.
+ + + : Especially the song “Agitate” reveals early, but great and worked-out EBM. The sound also revealed a more elaborate writing and more harmony between the influences of FLA and The Klinik. Bill Leeb’s vocals on this release were also more mature and charismatic.
– – – : Even if both songs remain great early EBM pieces they for sure suffer from the weight of time.
Conclusion: We’re getting back into time awakening during the early magic of EBM and the common efforts between 2 of the greatest artists in the genre!
Best songs: “Agitate”, “In Vain”
Rate: (7½).
Band: www.facebook.com/Noise–Unit-178935318858983
Label: www.artoffact.com / www.facebook.com/artoffact
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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.
