Genre/Influences: EBM, electro-rock, crossover.

Background/Info: We here can speak about a surprising comeback. Driven by Mark Alan Miller, Out Out got some recognition as an EBM band during the 90s. This new studio album is the first one in eight years and the first one on Artoffact Records. Radio Valkyrie Records is the label of Miller on, which previous albums were released.

Content: The debut cuts remind me of the great electronics of Out Out during the 90s. It’s somewhat old-styled and yet with a touch of modernism on top. The opening cut also sounds like a politically engaged song. You also will hear guitar parts, which have been played by guest musician Mark Schwaber.

“Swan/Dive?” progressively moves towards harder guitar-driven cuts. Some songs will for sure appeal to fans of early Ministry, but also to The Neon Judgement. This is an album with 2 sides revealing the wide spectrum of influences used by this band.

+ + + : The electro-driven cuts are my favorite. Out Out sounds like during the good-old days and show us the right sound formula for EBM. The guitar playing injects some extra power in the production. The electronic parts are well-crafted while I also noticed some great production tricks and effects running through the songs. The opening cut “Shut Up!” is a great and danceable song with an explicit political theme. I also enjoyed songs like “Look Up, Hannah” and “Like William Tell”.

– – – : I don’t have anything against diversity, but there clearly is a serious gap between the more electro-minded songs and the ‘Ministry’-like cuts. It gives you the impression listening to 2 different bands.

Conclusion: It’s hard to say if Out Out will conquer new fans with this album. There’re for sure some excellent- and even a few outstanding songs on it, but the harder crossover cuts can’t totally convince me.

Best songs: “Shut Up!”, “Look Up, Hannah”, “Like William Tell”, “Falsified”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.facebook.com/outoutband

Label: www.artoffact.com / www.facebook.com/artoffact

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

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The American industrial project Out Out (aka Mark Alan Miller) is about to release their newest album “Swan/Dive?” on Artoffact Records. The new album (a brilliant one truth to be told after having listened to the promo) is available on 2CD, black and clear-wood coloured vinyl, and in various combo packets which you can view right here. Note that the 2CD comes with a special bonus disc with 14 bonus remixes.

Formed originally in 1989, Mark Alan Miller’s industrial project Out Out has been through various incarnations over the years, mutating from an EBM band in the early 90s to incorporating guitar-industrial sounds to more experimental soundtrack work released in the 2000s. Originally signed to Tackhead’s Axis Records, Out Out was one of the earliest signees to US-based Metropolis Records, and is still probably best known for the club hit “Admire The Question”.

We asked Mark to present us the 5 tracks that influenced Out Out.

1/ Revolting Cocks – We Shall Cleanse the World
Mark: “In some way or other, I’m pretty sure that this (live) era RevCo has infiltrated my music a little here, a little there – going all the way back. Probably no great surprise to anyone.”

2/ Cabaret Voltaire – Seconds Too Late

Mark: “There is a textural quality to this that always resonates. While later records like Microphonies are also probably recognizable as an influence, particularly when it comes to drum programming, the atmostphere on this is impeccable.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEyqe3cyY38

3/ Todd Rundgren – The Spark of Life

Mark: “I first heard this when it came out, at the tender young age of four. Electronic drums and arpeggios, and wildly treated guitar. One of my first memories of being truly curious in the “how the hell did they make that sound” category. I covered another song from this same record on Swan/Dive?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PrUr4LR8yk

4/ Shriekback – Under the Lights

Mark: “The way these guys constructed this album – no real chord changes for the most part, developing song structure from additive and subtractive layers – is a pretty common method that I deploy myself. See also: #5, below.”

5/ Talking Heads – The Overload

Mark: “Because, a great drone is a thing to behold. Covering this song was an inevitable. I only took several decades to get around to it…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QBFMmIZTVs

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

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Coming up soon is a brand new Out Out album, but before that Artoffact has launched a digital single, “Look Up, Hannah”, which includes a remix by Jeff Hudson. Jeff Hudson is part of the minimal act Jane & Jeff Hudson which releases its material via Captured Tracks, which is a big US label.

You can now exclusively stream the new single below, and download it.

The single arrives after a long hiatus which Out Out frontman Mark Alan Miller spent as a studio engineer and he also took some time to release a few experimental works. The track is vintage Out Out – and vintage 90s industrial – with a driving kick drum, political lyrics, and a crunchy, guitar-led chorus.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

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