V/A Forms Of Hands 20 (Album – Hands)
Genre/Influences: Industrial, Rhythmic-Noise, Power-Noise, Industrial-Techno, Electro-Industrial.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: The legendary “Forms Of Hands” festival got cancelled in 2020 because of the ongoing pandemic. So the 20th edition took place in 2021 and was accompanied by the good-old compilation. We got fourteen projects and tracks.
Artists: <1979>, ICD-10, Hysteresis, Maschinenkrieger KR52, Heimstatt Yipotash, Mono No Aware, Monolith, Strobo.Lolita, 16Pad Noise Terrorist, Cervello Elettronico, MS Gentur, Greyhound, Nullvektor, Winterkälte.
Content: If you’re familiar with Hands you for sure recognize most of the bands. This new sampler is dominated by merciless Rhythmic/Power-Noise assaults from projects like Winterkälte, MS Gentur, Greyhound, Maschinenkrieger KR52, Mono No Aware and Strobo.Lolita. The Industrial-Techno format has been featured by ICD-10, HysteresisMonolith and Nullvektor. Other formations like <1979>, Heimstatt Yipotash and of course Cervello Elettronico bring a more sophisticated, minimal and intelligent sound. 16 Pad Noise Terrorist stands for the most Experimental touch of the compilation.
+ + + : Hands is a label I deeply respect for numerous reasons; first of all as leading label of qualitative ‘Industrial’ music, next for its longevity, but also for the will to innovate and give a chance to artists with a new and sometimes visionary approach of Industrial music. It has been perfectly represented by this new compilation. It’s interesting getting back to the first issues of this series and comparing it with this 20th edition. It’s an amazing evolution in sound although the label always remained driven by Industrial music. The evolution of a band like Heimstatt Yipotash perfectly symbolizes the evolution of the label.
– – – : If you’re not into the harder Rhythmic-Noise side of the label, there are for sure better compilations in this series.
Conclusion: A hard, powerful and ultra-danceable vintage of Industrial music and who says Industrial, thinks Hands!
Best bands: Heimstatt Yipotash, Cervello elettronico, ICD-10, Nullvektor, Monolith, Hysteresis, >1979<.
Rate: 8.
Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official
About Hands
Hands Productions, known as Hands, was founded in 1990 by Udo Wiessmann in Fürth, Germany, as a platform for his own projects Atrum, Severance and Winterkälte. The label later moved to Dortmund and widened its catalogue to full-length artist albums, releasing early work by Orphx, Ah Cama-Sotz and S.K.E.T.
Since 2001 the label has issued an annual “Forms Of Hands” festival compilation gathering one track from each act on its roster. The 2020 edition of the festival was cancelled, so the twentieth edition took place in 2021. “Forms Of Hands 20 – 20th Edition” was released on 10 September 2021 with fourteen artists and fourteen tracks.
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