Released
1998

Label
Digital Intersect Music

Reviewed by
S. Glitsos

Contact/Visit



Last Edit/Update
01 October, 1999

Armitage 6

Public Enema No. 1

Track Listing / Tape

SIDE ONE
1. Prophecy
2. No Where
3. Blood Tapping
4. No Where (Pt 2)
5. Project 2.5.0.1

SIDE TWO
6. The Fury
7. Farewell to the Flesh
8. Vertigo
9. Empire A-6
10. Dead or Alive

I started listening to this tape with a lot of apprehension. Everything from the name, "Public Enema No. 1," to the amateurish artwork, even to the cutting job on the tape case insert, screamed "DEMO," and I wasn't surprised at what came out of my speakers when I pressed "play:" muddy, clichéd drivel. This tape is obviously the result of home experimentation, and listening to a lot of Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly and the like. There isn't really anything exciting or new in this tape, since it's for the most part just redundant instrumentals.

It starts out with "Prophecy:" a repetative, dancefloor- oriented techno with Rebirth's TB-303 twiddling away for what seems like eons. It reminded me a lot of the new Front Line Assembly, except Bill Leeb has been doing repetative music for about 15 years and thus has it honed to an at least listenable medium. Here, it just made me want to get to the next song. The problem, though, is that it was hard to tell when the next song actually started. For the most part, this side seemed like a number of blocks of just plain repetition with a small amount of tweaking.

The second side was obviously made a while after the first. The songs were overall better. They changed more, instead of being the same repetative drum beat with synth and Rebirth wanking. That isn't to say they were technical marvels -- but it was an improvement. Also to note that the songs were actually spaced apart. Instead of one continuous chunk o' repetition, it was actually easy to tell when the next song started -- usually marked by a plips and ploops from pressing "stop" on the recorder.  To this tape's credit, it reminds me of Skinny Puppy's ancient Back and Forth *demo* material, albiet with different instruments and attitude. Perhaps with a little more planning, an engineer with a good grasp of equalization, a producer, and a smidgen of creative boost, David Flick will become a name to be reckoned with in the "industrial scene."