Doubting Thomas

CDs:
Father Don't Cry (91) (single), The Infidel (91)

     Yes, this _is_ a Skinny Puppy offshoot, and yes, it does 
succumb to some of the notable cEVIN'n'Dwayne weaknesses: far too 
many completely irrelevant vocal samples, and the rhythms and drum 
sounds they use are often godawful.
     However, they have freed themselves from the constraints of 
being a melodic dance-industrial band, and cEVIN has got to be one of 
the modern masters of sound manipulation. Their work has amazing 
texture to it. It helps that much of the work for _The Infidel_ was 
done in SoundTools.
     The music has a very restrained, dubby feel to it (in fact, a 
lot of this was used as before-show music during Skinny Puppy's "Too
Dark Park" tour, and I remember thinking then that it sounded like a
dub version of Skinny Puppy). It flows rather than progresses, and
has an interesting eclecticism to it that has been notably absent
from recent Skinny Puppy releases. The songs range from ominous
soundtracks (like "The Moodswing" or "Xcrement") to lite'n'cheezy
(but still instrumental) pop songs (like "That Problem Child").
     Like Front Line Assembly's offshoot InterMIX, I find myself
listening to this far more often than I listen to my Skinny Puppy
albums, because it doesn't bonk me over the head with growled lyrics
or traditional verse-chorus-verse song structures. Now, if only
they'd get rid of the useless samples!

...

Astounding synth creations - some tracks rhythmic, some tracks pure
washes of sound.  The single has four non-album tracks on it, all of
which are very good.  Lots of gravelly distorted sound bites.  "Come
in Peace" (on the album) is pure synth sweeps with slowed down samples
from The Day The Earth Stood Still.  Gorgeous.