Brandkommando – Patria Socialismo o Meurte! CDR

Sickcore

This disc from Sickcore has a special handmade D.I.Y. touch with thick stock and minimalist packaging that works perfectly. The entire presentation is quite impressive. I wish the audio was as consistent as the packaging though Brandkommando tends to have more ups and downs than I would prefer on this release.

The style that Brandkommando employs is somewhere along minimalist death industrial atmospheres of Atrax Morgue or N. However, a lot of the synth work featured on Patria is a bit under whelming seeming to have a weak digital sound to it. The backbone for these tracks are here, the composition is generally effective particularly in the opener “Caudillo” and “Leyenda De La Revolucion”. Some tracks however seem to be all over the place, like the varied “Marulanda”.

With such a minimalist focus on the noises themselves Brandkommando needs to work on upping the quality of their individual sound sources. I enjoy many of the affected vocals, often sounding like announcements resounding down an abandoned factory hallway or dead air radio broadcasts that continue with little regard to who is actually listening. But the sounds just don’t open up the spectrum enough although they get close quite often. More focus needs to be paid to quality of distortion, eqing and filtering to maximum potential. Patria Socialismo o Meurte consistently suffers from this.

I really am just a bit split on this release because I think Brandkommando has managed to capture an interesting atmosphere and stayed true to it throughout the disc but the weaknesses in sound hold it back. The historical and political concepts behind it are well-played out but also a bit welcoming since it’s been a while since I’ve heard a good political-themed industrial release. If you don’t mind more digital sounding “new school” death industrial/power electronics you may want to give this a chance.

Composition:
Sounds:
Production Quality:
Concept:
Packaging:
Overall Rating: