Die Warzau Convenience CD

Nearly a decade (which is about half a dozen lifespans in the electronic music scene) after their last album, 1995's Engine, Die Warzau return with the unsettled and finally rather disappointing Convenience. Much less confrontational than the duo's earlier music, Convenience sounds in large part like a tentative attempt to introduce Die Warzau's sample-happy dance-industrial aesthetic into a world where industrial is entirely yesterday's news, but it's not old enough to have kitschy nostalgia value quite yet. That's precisely the netherworld that this album inhabits as well, unfortunately. While there are some enjoyable moments -- particularly "King of Rock and Roll" (the track that makes plain the largely unexplored connection between glitch and heavy industrial) and the downtempo opener, "Crusaders," which answers the question "What would happen if Skinny Puppy remixed an Air single?" -- too much of the album is devoted to mush like "Kleen," a misguided attempt at a straight synth pop ballad of a type not seen since Ministry's awful debut, With Sympathy. Jim Marcus and Van Christie haven't lost any of their production chops, as the sound is richly three-dimensional and sparkling in a way that few of the other industrial acts could ever manage, but especially after such a long furlough, it's a shame that they didn't have better material to work with. ~ Stewart Mason

Chicago industrial duo Die Warzau purvey a guitar- and sample-heavy version of the form. Van Christie and Jim Marcus debuted in 1988 with Disco Rigido, following that album with 1991's Big Electric Metal Bass Face. Die Warzau returned in 1995 with the album Engine. ...NEARLY 10 YEARS LATER, DIE WARZAU READIES NEW ALBUM Produced in the new Pulse Black Studios, this is the first album released by Die Warzau since 1995's critically acclaimed album ENGINE. The new album is titled CONVENIENCE. CONVENIENCE is raw, noisy and aggressive. ENGINE which mixed styles and genres and help cement Die Warzau's reputation as electronic innovators to be imitated. CONVENIENCE lyrically is self-assured and fascinating from beginning to end; the party recording atmosphere of ENGINE has been met and bested......... Members of Die Warzau worked and participated with; Louis Svitek (Ministry), Mars Williams (The Psychedelic Furs, Liquid Soul), Chris Randall, (Sister Machine Gun), Chris Connelly (Ministry, Pigface), Bill Rieflin, and remixes for Björk, George Clinton, Peter Hook (New Order), KMFDM, Pansy Division, Sister Soliel, Pink Noise Test, Machines of Loving Grace, Gravity Kills.::::::::: Music Guide By the time its third album was released, the Chicago-based electronic duo Die Warzau (Jim Marcus and Van Christie) had already released two albums (1989's Disco Rigido and 1991's Big Electric Metal Bass Face) on two record labels. After several years of inactivity (though the band did production work for Sister Machine Gun and KMFDM), Die Warzau finally resurfaced in 1995 with Engine; the album was released on the Chicago-based industrial-music label Wax Trax, and this new home fit Die Warzau like a silk glove. Engine is a major leap forward for Die Warzau, as it contains some of its most hard-hitting (and surprisingly pop-friendly) material. The album is diverse in sounds and styles, and the mixture of moods and musical approach shows astonishing artistic depth. Engine utilizes many of the ingredients of Die Warzau's first two albums, but the band has evolved considerably since its debut, utilizing a more apparent dance approach with each successive release. Atmospheric, electronic sound collages, squealing guitars, and minimalist lyrics are at the forefront on tracks like "Grounded" and "Muck." "Grounded" is particularly strong, combining Nine Inch Nails-style chanting in its chorus with rap-flavored verses. But the song is unusually catchy, showing off Die Warzau's expertise in crafting pop hooks without sacrificing the heavy approach. "Heroin A.D." is also a keeper, with its inven