Review: Combichrist – We Love You
Artist: Combichrist
Album: We Love You
Rating: 10/10
Combichrist: one of the most well-known names on the industrial scene. The band has 6 critically-acclaimed albums under their belt, including “Making Monsters” which was released in 2010 and showed a completely different side of the band. They played for hundreds of thousands of fans with Rammstein for 4 months in Europe, they’re no stranger to the US touring circuit, with hundreds upon hundreds of shows played nationwide. Now, 4 years later, the band is ready to dominate your ears with “We Love You”. The album is a symbolism of how humanity is slowly breaking down and endangering itself. The intro track “We Were Made to Love You” is sort of a robotic approach to this subject. Tracks like “Can’t Control”, the aptly titled “Fuck Unicorns” and “Maggots at the Party” are a testament to just how unified the band can sound.
Vocalist Andy LaPlegua has really improved his technique, as well, using less and less vocal effects with each album. His screams are raw and in your face in a way no Combichrist album before it has ever been, while his singing voice takes you to another world entirely. Take the track, “Maggots at the Party” for instance, it feels more like a metal track than anything industrial until the chorus, but I don’t remember hearing him using ANY vocal effects on that track as far as distortion or anything goes.
The instrumentals will definitely please metal fans and it’s a great party track, so turn it up and grab your favorite drink, slam it down and have fun! You will quickly notice, upon listening to this album, that it’s each step in a path to doomsday, where the beings we’re introduced to in the beginning are set to exterminate the human race. I love it when I can listen to an album, especially a technical/industrial album and have it be a listening EXPERIENCE, rather than just a listen. “We Love You” is certainly a journey through the world, right up until it’s inevitable end!
The track “The Evil in Me” is a piano-driven track that has given me chills every time I’ve listened to it. You can feel the despair, the human race realizing that the end is coming and there’s nothing they can do about it. You feel as though you’re walking through the wreckage of war-torn cities… desolate ruins that once held such great potential. However, man was only concerned with wealth, power and fame… which was where it’s fate was sealed.
“Fuck Unicorns” was a track that instantly, from title, caught my eye. Despite it’s comical title, it’s actually one of the best tracks on the album, electronically, to me. It feels as though you’re on an acid-trip listening to it, definitely not something you would expect, given what you’ve heard in the album so far, but anyone who knows Combichrist, knows that they are known for twists and turns on every release.
The last couple tracks on the album perfectly complement one another. “Love Is A Razorblade” is a track about the lust that ensues during the end-times, divulging in that carnal delectation one last time as the end is near. It’s also a play on how deadly love can be. “From My Cold Dead Hands” is a track about fighting for everything you stand for, even with your last breath, and it’s a great way to end the album. The vocal effects, the electronics, the overall arrangement of the track signals the end is here. It’s been a great run, humanity… but your reign is over.
Standout tracks: “Can’t Control”, “Fuck Unicorns”, “Maggots at the Party”, “Denial”, “The Evil in Me”, “Satan’s Propaganda”, “Love Is A Razorblade”, “From My Cold Dead Hands”
Pre-Order “We Love You” (Webstore)
“From My Cold Dead Hands” Official Lyric Video
