INDUSTRIAL MONK
Prophecies (RCM)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

---

The duo of Fred Vogler and Takashi Kawai, better known as Industrial Monk, debuted in 1998 with the more subdued and goth-like Magnificat, a blending of chant and electronica that was haunting and often fragile. These are busy guys in the music and film industry, so it's no surprise that the second Industrial Monk album took so long to appear. What is a surprise is that it's so different. There are still chants, though fewer and farther between, and it's still going to be in the electronic dance music section of your favorite CD store, but there's a new aggressiveness to the beats, an undertow in the beautiful waves that give it all an edge and a sense of danger. Guests appear to lend acoustic instrumentation here and there, or a pop vocal, either by itself or over a blanket of background chanting. The music itself, often steady on course to pull you along, veers suddenly into complex and even baffling timing, only for a moment, then comes out the other end upside down yet back on course. I realize that not everyone pays attention to these things, and they may just think the CD screwed up for a few seconds, but those of you in the know will be well aware that some daredevil electronica just took place. We can point at the others and laugh when they're not looking. Meanwhile we can still be tranced nicely by Industrial Monk, if with a few more in-our-faces beats than last time around. And English lyrics, but never for long. Something tells me "never for long" is Industrial Monk's motto. That's okay. If they have enough ideas to pull it off over the long haul, then change is good.

© 2002 - DJ Johnson