Saturday, April 22, 2017

Klax "Last Zyborg"

(Crazy Love Records 2017)

The 4 Tribes
Zyborg Coming
Arise
Mentor
Contact
Rock Salt
Queen's Control
Broken Mirror
Last Zyborg
Silent Bell

I'm kicking off this review with a blurb from the band themselves....and then I shall wax lyrical about what I think. So, from Klax: "This is a very powerful and aggressive release. The album also tells a back story set in a polluted and corrupt future for human kind. There are 3 tribes who vote globally and one Human Admiral (Kernt) who enforces all law. The tribes consist of lazy but intelligent humans, Androids who are used for basic chores of slave labor and Cyborgs who are also slave laborers but for more difficult jobs. The Androids have free will and are always upset with their rates and working conditions. They have been rebelling for decades and are led by a Gynoid Queen. Admiral Kernt and Dr. Zyaut have designed an artificial organism fused with it's robotic shell. This new design should be absent of free will and free thought. It will merely be a mindless slave. Although, it will still consist of much attention to detail and can work for a 100 years without rest or maintenance. The Admiral has rallies and promotions that are needed for support and votes to pass approval of all 3 tribes. He has Dr. Zyaut awaken their 1st prototype "Zyborg". As soon as he awakes, he destroys everything in sight and shows plenty of free thought and free will..."
Now that the copying and pasting duties have been taken care of, what we have here is a rare breed indeed...a psychobilly concept album! Artistically, the cover art strikes me as a kind of Krewmen/Klingonz mashup.  Musically, this mashup continues. This is a harder, more threatening sounding Klax to the sounds to be heard on their 2012 album Recycle-Billy. Psychobilly slap bass and drums laden with cyber punk guitar and vocals. It's like a soundtrack to every post apocalyptic film you've ever seen.  But it doesn't go so far into cyber punk waters that the psychobilly gets lost in the mix. Klax have found the perfect blend between the two. All instruments are perfectly balanced too in a way that all are played in audible conjunction with one and other. They've really caught that menacing sound in keeping with the subject matter throughout. The all-important lyrics are included in the booklet too so you could say it's also the first psychobilly audio book with each song being a chapter. Anyway, to sum up, what Klax have released here is a pounding, slap bass driven psychobilly/cyber punk stomper minus those bullshit horror/theatrical vocals that are all too common and fucking boring. See that psychobilly bands? Take a leaf out of Klax's book...you can still sound dangerous and sing in your "actual" voice. The album is out now on all platforms but fuck streaming...go and buy a physical copy from everyone's favourite German sexpot Guido Neumann. 
The O'Prez



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