The Force Dimension – Mortal Cable (Album – Sonic Groove)
Genre/Influences: EBM, Minimal-Electro.
Format: Digital, Vinyl.
Background/Info: The Force Dimension belongs to the collective memory of the 80s. Hailing from The Netherlands, they became a renowned formation from the legendary Belgian KK Records. After a long hiatus they struck back in 2017 with a different line-up and a new album “Machinesex”. Four years later, core member René Van Dijck joined hands together with Sonic Groove to release “Mortal Cable”.
Content: Forget about the 80s productions of this band and discover the ‘news’ sound of The Force Dimension. René Van Dijck has accomplished a true tour de force. The sound is hard to define, but clearly mixing good-old EBM vibes and bass lines together with a raw, icy Minimal-Electro sound. The sequences are repetitive, sometimes mixed with a melodic passage and always driven by danceable rhythms. The vocals have been produced in a rather robotic way. The album features eleven surprising cuts for dancefloors.
+ + + : I liked the band’s self-titled debut-album (the red edit) originally released in 1989 on KK Records. Thirty two years later The Force Dimension has completely reinvented its sound although holding on a great retro-like approach. You can hear it in the dry snares, the icy strings and good-old analogue sound treatments and effects. But this retro-basis has been boosted by contemporary elements, empowering the sound and getting the sound into an irresistible minimal approach. Sometimes on the edge of intelligent Techno music, the sound remains raw. There’re also sensual passages, which makes me think of music for pleasure games in dungeons…
– – – : The Force Dimension took me by surprise and left me rather breathless. The only single regret I can imagine is that this is just another band… but still another time!
Conclusion: The Force Dimension strikes back with a bang! This is a creative and original album, which is hard to label, but definitely great to consume!
Best songs: “Icicles”, “Deep Stalker”, “Door 2 Door”, “On The Floor”, “Cliff”, “With Your Feet”.
Rate: 9.
Artist: www.theforcedimension.com / www.facebook.com/theforcedimension
Label: www.sonicgroove.com / www.facebook.com/Sonicgrooverecords
About The Force Dimension
The Force Dimension started in the Netherlands at the beginning of 1987 as a trio, with René Van Dijck on keyboards, Tycho de Groot on vocals and electronics and Armin Elmensdorp on effects. A demo led to work with the industrial label De Fabriek, which issued the 7″ “Fabrieksforce” in 1988. The band appeared on several compilations that year and moved towards EBM.
KK Records signed the group after hearing their tapes. Luc Van Acker produced the first version of the self-titled debut album, known as the blue version; the label then had the band record a second, rougher version, known as the red version. “Tension” followed in 1989, “Algorythm” and “Deus Ex Machina” in 1990, “New Funk” in 1991 and the compilation “12 Inch Singles” on KK Records in 1992. Subtronic Records issued the compilation “Kitty Hawk” in 1996.
After a long break the band returned in 2017 with “Machinesex”, followed by a run of self-released digital singles and the album “Sorcery Pigs” in 2018. The eleven-track “Mortal Cable” was released by Sonic Groove on 16 September 2021. Side-Line published a Click Interview with The Force Dimension on 19 December 2021.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
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.
