BLACKER

Radio Massacre International is one of those groups that record so much you get to see their strong and weak points, much as you would Acid Mothers Temple, except of course, RMI's music is electronic, influenced by the Berlin School, especially Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and Ash Ra Tempel. At their best, they create some of the finest electronic music since TD's glory days, on an off day, it sounds like they just turn on the sequencers and leave the room (of course they didn't, but sometimes they don't know when to give them a rest). I really love their approach, using analog and analog modeling synths, and most of all the Mellotron (I understand they bought some of their tron tapes from Tangerine Dream themselves, so it's nice to see someone else using their tapes to good use).

Blacker is one of a million (just kidding) band-sanction CD-Rs that often appear just shortly after a regular release, and this is perhaps one of my all-time favorites from RMI! They go a more experimental route, and they really got creative with the sequencers here, not leaving them on autopilot as sometimes they do. It doesn't start off too encouraging, with "Dubly". It sounds mainly like Duncan Goddard doing some minimalist thing on his bass guitar, with some strange electronic effects in the background, some faint percussion from Steve Dinsdale, and guitar from Gary Houghton. But at least the goodies are just around the corner, and wait until you get a load of the next cut, "This is Scenery?". This truly blew me away, they really get experimental here, with some industrial sounds effects, and the Mellotron rearing its head from time to time, and I really love the us of sequencers here, because they don't keep the same rhythm of pattern for long. I can't help but be reminded a bit of TD's Ricochet at times. "No Bones" is Gary Houghton's time to shine, creating a trippy spacy guitar pattern that gets me thinking of Ash Ra Tempel. "Enormodome" is another rather experimental piece, but when the sequencers kick in they remind me of John Carpenter's score to Halloween. I really love this synth bass that pop in.

I guess RMI are never afraid to take risks, that's for sure, because at their best, they create some of the greatest electronic music I have ever heard, and Blacker definitely captures them at their best, this one comes with my highest recommendation!