cold meat industry - reviews CMI.83

After several recent live shows in Europe, here comes the awaited debut album from Institut, a Scandinavian couple playing something between power electronics and rhythmic noise.

The 12 tracks of "A great day to get even" are extremely noisy. There are no real beats, but some very low sounds and noise loops give some rhythms to the otherwise ear blasting distortion. A lot of very high frequencies and feedback are used. The result is a furnace of audio mayhem, that has the intensity of power electronics and the motion of rhythmic noise.

The tracks are really well written. The level of plain noise, of effects and of feedback are really well measured. As a result, this is neither too soft nor overly violent. The atmosphere is asphyxiating (think of Eisengrau) but the album stays dynamic and evolving.

Vocals are present on most of the tracks, but are heavily treated with effects and saturation. They are mostly screams, communicating anger and hatred. Combined with the fact that the band members of Institut are a couple, they make the listener think of Haus Arafna. The resemblance is well deserved, since Institut is one of the best thing I have listened to lately, in the "noise / hatred" section.

"A great day to get even" is an extremely enjoyable album. Moreover, Institut don't carry the "evil", almost black metal imagery of several recent Cold Meat Industry bands, which makes them even more interesting. Excellent music and little attitude, this result in a CD about which I'm very enthusiastic. Every day is a great day to get even!