Breed to Death

Album review

When Gary Zon started experimenting with a synthesized approximation of Front Line Assembly's sound, what he ended up with was something surprisingly individual (if not exactly unique) and crowd-pleasing, a sort of twisted fusion of industrial, trance, and EBM elements. He called it Dismantled, and several compilation tracks, a handful of remix gigs, and two full-length albums later, Zon is being given the honor of his own remix EP, with contributions from such electro eminences as Haujobb, :wumpscut:, and Daedal. The disc's two central tracks are "Swarm" and "Breed to Death"; the former is presented in four mixes, and the latter in three. Most of the remixes are drastic and distinct enough that you might not recognize the common basis they share unless you listen very carefully -- the exception being Xlan Antkow's remix of "Breed to Death," which does little beyond tightening and cleaning up the original mix. The disc's joke track is a straight-faced industrial setting of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up," and its two highlights are the unremixed version of "Swarm," a brilliant slab of melodic aggro, and Daedal's program-ending jungle mix of the same number. Not bad.
© Rick Anderson /TiVo