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Side-Line reviews Shiv-r “Hold My Hand” album
It’s been said before, but always bearsrepeating that this label is grabbing some great new acts! And this is yet another in a long line of acts/releases/re-releases from this label. At first this sounds and looks like it may be more spooky crapdreck… then the distorted kick rattles your fillings and nearly blows a speaker. The album starts relatively slow, then it really kicks in and rips your face off. It just keeps relentlessly pounding you until almost the end then it gets slower and the beats switch up to shake you loose of its death grip. The best track is possibly more than halfway in and seems to be named after a William Gibson novel, who knows, because the distorted grovely screaming goes well with all that bad ass bass. No real intricate synths are present until the bridge of most tracks the best equation one could figure is possibly something like SAM and Soman having an orgy with lyrical content as opposed to sound clips. This act is still rough around the edges for this first release but for all intensive purposes they have a formula that fits them well down pat and it will be interesting to see where it goes from here, lets all hope they don’t disappear for almost a decade and come back to assault us all next year with a new release.
Oldheads like it or not their myspace URL says it all and this ISindustrial in the new decade!(DJ23:8)DJ23.
Originally published at Side-Line Magazine.
Auxiliary Magazine reviews Shiv-r “Hold My Hand” album
Shiv-r is a collaboration between Lee Bulig from Stark and Pete Crane from The Crystalline Effect. Their album Hold My Hand is hard! Relentless pounding beats layered with screeching synths and clean, but hard vocals. The album provides dark atmospheres and unique melodies and tends to run the vocals in thort segments of the tracks, say more techno in nature where the music is the key and the vocals add a dash of flavor. The songs demand your attention, be it stomping your boots on the dance floor or letting your aggression meter run up a notch while driving around town. I recommend this release!
7/10 - MK
Originally published at Auxiliary Magazine.
JH Music Promotions reviews Shiv-r “Hold My Hand” album
Having never heard of Shiv-R before, it was hard to know what to expect. Upon realising that the album was mastered by Kolja Trelle, aka Soman, it gave me some hope that Shiv-R’s debut “Hold My Hand” would be an album worth listening too. However starting the album it was not the rhythmic noise that I had come to suspect.
“Hold My Hand” is a dark and twisting delight containing a mix of hard hitting club beats and dark haunting neoclassical electro. The first couple of tracks “Buried” and “Parasite” start out on the darker end of the spectrum. with the vast majority of the tracks being instrumental. Vocals are sparse but well placed to ensure maximum effect.
The next few tracks are a lot more club minded, with hard beats and vocals all the way through. Although the dark atmospheric electro is still present it takes a more back seat role in order to emphasise the beats and vocals. Unlike most releases these days, the vocals are generally smooth and clean, without the need for heavy distortion featured in most industrial outfits.
As the album progresses it is clear that Shiv-R have released a decent debut. Being the joint collaboration of Lee Bulig (Stark) and Pete Crane (The Crystalline Effect) the two members have taken samples of their previous work and combined their sound to make something new. Even living in separate countries, (Lee in Bangkok and Pete in London) hasn’t stopped them from writing in sync and creating something which works.
Shiv-R are a fresh and exciting new project. They are a dark atmospheric outing who will no doubt grow from hear on. With top name bands such as Soman and XP8 supporting (and remixing) them it is clear that they are getting the receiving they deserve.Originally published at JH Music Promotions.
Blackvector reviews Shiv-r “Hold My Hand” album
The UK/Australian project Shiv-R is the constellation of Lee Bulig and Pete Crane were both are collaboration on the music with Pete also on vocals. The band was signed to Infacted Recordings in June last year and have made several remixworks since then including remixes for Unter Null, X-Divide and God Module. “Hold My Hand” marks their debut which is fully-packed with 12 tracks covering an hour of pumping electronic music.
With “Hold My Hand”, the duo delivers a new face in the heavy electornic club music and is somehow a mix between the dark hellectro style, but without distorted vocals, blended with heavy trance-fused elements. It’s all about strong beats and you constantly hear the distinct bass pounding in your chest. Cross Hocico with Combichrist or Accessory with Noisuf-X, but after all it sounds really fresh and as I said, this is a new path in the scene and the outcome is amazing which opens up new explorations for you mind. Great soundscapes together with the heavy beats is the basic reciepe but the result is outstanding and destined for the heavier clubs. Great job!
9 out of 10
Originally published at Blackvector.
Gothtronic reviews Shiv-r “Hold My Hand” album
Shiv-R debuted a while ago with an EP named Parasite, which was an impressive introduction to this new industrial EBM project of the duo Lee Bullig (ex-Stark) and Pete Crane (The Crystalline Effect). Now it’s time to see if they can live up to the expectations with their full length debut Hold My Hand. The first club track is the highly danceable ‘Parasite’, which contains some really exhilarating sounds next to pounding beats and driving sequences. The vocals in tracks like ‘The End’ as well as the layered sound remind of Front Line Assembly. Very cool are the returning goa trance influences in various tracks on this album. These are counter-balanced by the neo-classical sounds that add to the bombastic effect and overall dynamics in the haunting dark sound on this album. The track ‘Corruption’ has a techno industrial vibe that is reminiscent of the sound made famous by acts such as Soman and ‘Blood Spatter’ seems inspired by the sound of Combichrist. The music of Shiv-R may not be the most original thing but it is variable enough to keep it interesting and in the end it all comes down to the adrenalin kick you will get when you hear this on a dance floor near you. Next to the debut of Kriminal Minds this is the most exciting EBM debut of this year so far. Recommended!
8 out of 10
Review by TekNoir
Originally published at Gothtronic.
Fiend Magazine reviews Shiv-r “Parasite” EP
Shiv-r is a new project combining two talents in Australian industrial music: Pete Crane (from The Crystalline Effect) and Ben Bulig (Stark, Neon Womb). As could be predicted, when these two twisted minds meet, the results are amazing. Shiv-r opens with the long and intense Parasite. This is one of the best dancefloor industrial tracks I’ve heard in a while, and this should be haunting clubs by the time you are reading this review. Relentless beats, amazing synths, snarling vocals, this track has it all. Shiv-r quickly follow this track up with some slower and more moody tracks. However their skill as songwriters and producers really shine here, they can clearly make great tracks for the home as well as the nightclub. I wish I could say that for some other and much more famous acts around at the moment. The only problem with this release is its length (five tracks). We want more!
4 Stars.
Review by Leon Tranter
Published in the August 2009 issue of Fiend Magazine.
Chain D.L.K reviews Shiv-r “Parasite” EP
This is the debut release of a quite interesting Australian-based newcomer act, but with prominent and experienced Electro/Industrial-musicians hiding behind. SHIV-R is the new playing field of Pete Crane (better known with his Electro-Pop project THE CRYSTALLINE EFFECT, signed to the Hungarian Advoxya Records) and Lee Bulig, the brainchild behind the legendary but unfortunately gone Harsh-Electro act STARK. Three original tracks plus two additional remix works by each of the both artists are featured on this first audio sign of life. The title track is of course the main track here, a hard and straight-forward oriented danceable Hellectro tune, which luckily adds niches for a well-done listening procedure too. Pete takes care on the male vocals and he does really well with this, better than expected. Also both additional tracks ”Fractured Light” and ”Control” aren’t that straight oriented and leave enough room for the listener to consume without to discover another plain Tekkno-oriented bass drum hammering . Oh, and the use of guitar riffs subtle integrated aren’t forbidden for them – a good idea for some variations is always appreciated. A quite promising and well done debut, let’s hope for more of these both talented musicians soon.
4 Stars
Review by Marc TaterReview originally published at Chain D.L.K Zine.
Gothtronic reviews Shiv-r - “Parasite” EP
“The Parasite EP of the Australian EBM industrial project Shiv-r kicks off immediately with a pounding dance floor bomb which is the technoid EBM title track. Shiv-r is a prpject formed by Pete Crane (known from the electropop band The Crystalline Effect) and Lee Bullig (known from the now defunct dark electro band Stark). The club centred sequences and beats on this debut EP get company from ethereal neo-classical sounds, which make this Australian project have resemblances with the also young Dutch project Schwarzblut. ‘Fractured Light’ contains next to the club accessible beats a sound which is more focused on atmosphere and has vocals that bring to mind the successful days of Front Line Assembly. ‘Control’ goes a step further even and leaves the dance floor with a slower pace yet it is a very haunting track with horror sounds and effective use of guitar. The final two tracks are remixes of ‘Parasite’ and ‘Control’, of which the first one with its trance influences is very much focused on the dance floor. Shiv-r doesn’t bring any renewing input to the EBM scene but the club compatible tracks of Shiv-r will surely crowd the dance floor.”
Review originally published at Gothtronic Zine.
Side-Line magazine reviews “Parasite” EP
“Shiv-r is a brand-new duo from Australia. Set up by Lee Bulig (Kong, Stark) and Pete Crane (Crystalline Effect) Shiv-r sounds like a new band in the worldwide dark electro army. This maxi features 5 songs and the title song is a real impressive one. “Parasite” reminds me of the powerful, banging and progressive style of Combichrist. I guess this is more than a simple reference! I’m really impressed by the elaboration of this song revealing an impressive arsenal of sounds merged with a terrific, harsh beat. The vocals have been masterfully produced, adding a kind of spooky touch to the song. Another great song is the remix of “Parasite” by Pete Crane working under the Virul3nt-moniker. It sounds Combichrist-minded as well, but with some variation in sound and female vocals instead of the male ones. Wendy Leaver (Straylight) here adds her really hot and sensual timbre of voice. It creates a delicious contrast with the powerful music. 2 other songs are quite different. They’re definitely quieter and reinforced by guitar parts. These songs remain well crafted and elaborated, but didn’t kick ass like “Parasite”. One of them (cf. “Control”) has been remixed by Lee Bulig under the Kong moniker, but can’t totally convince me. There are not enough songs here to evaluate the real potential of Shiv-r, but the main song is a pure ‘endzeit’ jewel where even Andy La Plegua would be jealous of.
Score: 7/8
Review by DPReview originally published at Side-Line Magazine.
About
Shiv-r is a new force in the field of dark electronic music. The heavy and unsettling atmosphere generated by the band is at times intended for the clubs, and at times drawn to a slow, grinding pace for full dramatic impact.
Check this site often for daily updates from the band on life in Bangkok & London, body-mods, and music-tech.
More info here.
