TöT – United By Hatred (CD Album – Replikants Records)
Genre/Influences: EBM.
Background/Info: TöT is a French EBM formation from Marseille. The band consists of 3 members sharing a common passion for EBM, which resulted in a debut album featuring 10 songs plus 4 remixes.
Content: TöT clearly sounds like a faithful follower of old-school EBM. The music is inspired by living legends like Nitzer Ebb and Pouppée Fabrikk. They take off with a short extract of Carl Orff’s famous “Carmina Burana” to rapidly move into powerful electronic body music.
The work is carried by solid, dry sounding bass lines and a straight forward cadence. The lyrics are sometimes a bit simplistic and easy to remind. The Nitzer Ebb influence is not only noticeable in the music, but also in the vocals and some typical shout reminding me of Douglas McCarthy.
Remixes were accomplished by Kryptonia 85, Stolearm, Karne Metal Box and Engel 7.
+ + + : If you like good-old EBM inspired by some famous pioneers in the genre, TöT is definitely an exciting band to look out for. They don’t exactly innovate, but compose an honest copy of old-school body music. The sound formula is simple, but efficient featuring a few cool songs. “Raw” and “Outcast” both are noticeable songs with some power to set dancefloors on fire.
– – – : TöT doesn’t innovate at any single moment and there clearly are hundreds of bands in the genre. Some of the bass lines and sequences are a bit too Nitzer Ebb-minded. A bit more originality would be suitable.
Conclusion: TöT composes the music they like and who cares if it’s not that original when it simply kicks a***.
Best songs: “Raw”, “Outcast”, “Discipline”, “Kelb”, “Disposable – Kryptonia 85”.
Rate: (7).
Band: https://totmuzik.bandcamp.com/releases
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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.
