When I first came across the name Combichrist, I thought it was referring to some sort of Jesus action figure with a few different weapon choices (perhaps a couple of wineskins or some sort of sophisticated fish pistol). Upon further inspection it was revealed that, to be sure, Combichrist is the industrial/techno/metal/dance brainchild of Andy LaPlegua.
LaPlegua hails from Norway and began his musical expedition leading a few of the Norwegian underground’s most influential bands, including Icon of Coil. Combichrist sprang out of a desire to blend dance beats and electronica with a ruthless industrial techno sound. Essentially, LaPlegua IS Combichrist much in the same way that Trent Reznor IS Nine Inch Nails. He produces and records the music himself, for the most part, and uses live players during performances to flesh out the group.
Today We Are All Demons, released in January of 2009, continues the Combichrist saga with pulsating detonation of techno beats, antagonistic vocals, plenty of awesome cursing, and shady tone. Unfortunately, it all gets a bit too repetitive.
If you’ve ever been to one of those spine-chilling underground nightclubs with the flashing lights, the leather, and the spiky dog collars, you’ve probably got the general picture of Combichrist’s sound. It rifles out of the speakers like a raver kid with a death wish, telling us that the end is near while flailing around with disorderly sparkle and big smirk.
Today We Are All Demons opens with a brief intro track that consists of an answering machine message. On the message, a guy tells us that he’s on his way to jail on concealed weapons charges and his girlfriend can’t bail his ass out because she’s in the hospital after trying to off herself via sleeping pills. Cute.
With the austere tone set, a spreading gust of techno kicks into “All Pain Is Gone.” LaPlegua’s scraping vocals cut through the unreserved music, alerting us with uninviting lyrics over an eccentrically beautiful set of sonic surroundings.
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