L'Eau Rouge
©Play It Again Sam. België, 1989.
‟Bloody hell, what is this?
Since I've been a member of RYM I've been introduced to music that, beforehand, I would never have considered touching with a bargepole – and industrial noise rock would have been ranked somewhere around boy bands or shoving red hot needles under my fingernails. I've no idea who recommended The Young Gods but, whoever you are, you can raise your head above the parapet – but keep your tin hat on just in case!
I haven't a clue where to begin trying to categorise L'eau Rouge (The Red Water) simply because it doesn't sit comfortably in any particular genre. I mean, come on, the title track takes a woman's monthly menstrual flow as its subject matter – that's more like what you'd expect from a Kate Bush or a Tori Amos than a trio of Swiss male noise rockers!
The one thing I am certain of is, for me, L'eau Rouge is a far better album because I have no idea what it's all about. The vocals are in French and Franz Treichler has a voice like a cement mixer full of boulders which would make most of the words indiscernible even if I could speak the language. The CD booklet has the lyrics written in both French and English but I'm not really interested in understanding what's going on because, in this case, the vocal really does become another instrument. In that regard, The Young Gods remind me very much of German rockers Rammstein – I don't know what they're singing about either but they make a heck of a great noise!
L'eau Rouge opens with "La Fille de la Mort"; an eight minute epic that constantly surprises. It begins with what sounds like a steam-driven fairground calliope, builds into an almost classical crescendo before descending into utter chaos. I have to admit that the chaotic element of this song is what I was expecting from the whole of the album but that never really happens as heavy drum rhythms abound and manage to restrain the wilder excesses. The best tracks are those that both channel the free-form energy and retain a sense of impending doom and devastation through sheer brute force: "Les Enfants", "Longue Route", "Crier Les Chiens" and "L'amourir". Even the warped nursery rhyme feel of "Charlotte" works particularly well.
So do I like this? Yes I do. Would I buy more? I bought Only Heaven at the same time as L'eau Rouge but I don't think I'll be going any further than that. Would I recommend The Young Gods to anyone else? Only as something to listen to, not as something to buy. Does it make me want to delve deeper into noise rock? No. I might try out further recommendations but to attempt to negotiate my own way through the industrial sludge is not something I have any appetite for.‟
I haven't a clue where to begin trying to categorise L'eau Rouge (The Red Water) simply because it doesn't sit comfortably in any particular genre. I mean, come on, the title track takes a woman's monthly menstrual flow as its subject matter – that's more like what you'd expect from a Kate Bush or a Tori Amos than a trio of Swiss male noise rockers!
The one thing I am certain of is, for me, L'eau Rouge is a far better album because I have no idea what it's all about. The vocals are in French and Franz Treichler has a voice like a cement mixer full of boulders which would make most of the words indiscernible even if I could speak the language. The CD booklet has the lyrics written in both French and English but I'm not really interested in understanding what's going on because, in this case, the vocal really does become another instrument. In that regard, The Young Gods remind me very much of German rockers Rammstein – I don't know what they're singing about either but they make a heck of a great noise!
L'eau Rouge opens with "La Fille de la Mort"; an eight minute epic that constantly surprises. It begins with what sounds like a steam-driven fairground calliope, builds into an almost classical crescendo before descending into utter chaos. I have to admit that the chaotic element of this song is what I was expecting from the whole of the album but that never really happens as heavy drum rhythms abound and manage to restrain the wilder excesses. The best tracks are those that both channel the free-form energy and retain a sense of impending doom and devastation through sheer brute force: "Les Enfants", "Longue Route", "Crier Les Chiens" and "L'amourir". Even the warped nursery rhyme feel of "Charlotte" works particularly well.
So do I like this? Yes I do. Would I buy more? I bought Only Heaven at the same time as L'eau Rouge but I don't think I'll be going any further than that. Would I recommend The Young Gods to anyone else? Only as something to listen to, not as something to buy. Does it make me want to delve deeper into noise rock? No. I might try out further recommendations but to attempt to negotiate my own way through the industrial sludge is not something I have any appetite for.‟
Grampus
