Review: Combichrist – We Love You

Combichrist – We Love You
Label: Metropolis Records
Released: March 25th, 2014

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I’m just going to say this upfront for all you Combichrist fanatics; Combichrist has always been hit-or-miss for me. The songs I have liked, I tend to really like and get into. The more industrial noise Combichrist is known for, I’m not as interested in. That said, I actually really like “We Love You”.

With “We Love You”, we hear Combichrist continuing down a path they kind of started with the previous album “Making Monsters” and sort of have in the “Devil May Cry” soundtrack they worked on. “We Love You” has far much less industrial noise and much more thumpy beats, fast guitars, kicking rhythms and sampling fused in. The opening track starts off with a bleak message telling us they love us but must destroy us before kicking into the usual Combichrist aggro-industrial noise they are known for. Very Combichrist.

“Everyday is War” and “Satan’s Propoganda” continue the usual Combichrist techno-industrial sound in a similar vein. These tracks are full of heavy beats, electronic whirring, bleeps and noises combined with LaPlegua’s grunty vocals. The good stuff.

“Maggots at the Party” change things up a little bit from the “usual” Combichrist sound. This song is pushed through the ringer and comes out with a bit more of a rock vibe. It’s fast paced with some nice guitar breaks, thumpy beats and gravely vocals (though toned down just a bit). Is a tiny bit of LaPlegua’s other band “Scandinavian Cock” seeping into Combichrist? Maybe. That’s wouldn’t be a bad thing.

“Love is a Razorblade” is another track I’d like to call out. It’s not too far off of the usual Combichrist fare. One big notable item for it, however, is that it has much more of a punk vibe than I’ve heard before coming from Combichrist. It’s about 3 minutes of fast paced crunchy guitars, loud drums that never let up and even vocals that are whizzing along at a faster clip than usual. It’s defintely a track that will wear out the clubheads on the dance floor.

The last track I’m going to call out is actually my favorite. It’s a pretty simplistic and very slow song for Combichrist. Utilizing just a guitar, piano and vocals for most of the track. No electronic noise. No fast paced, skull crunching industrial pounding. Just slow, mellow music with clean vocals front and center. It works quite well and really displays LaPlegua’s singing chops. Things kick in heavy towards the end with some drums and guitar crunch to keep it inline with the album. It’s a great change of pace for a Combichrist tune. Though I’m sure there will be some fans out there that will absolutely hate it.

Overall, I think “We Love You” has made me more of a Combichrist fan. LaPlegua knows how to mix things up, keep the rocking industrial groove going all while keeping an album interesting. There isn’t a song on this album that I grew tired of or that bored me. Twelve of the thirteen tracks work well together and show off the talent of Combichrist. Why not all thirteen you ask? Well…track thirteen, “Retreat Hell Part 2” I felt is not a very solid track. Sounding more like some weird spoken word thing put to acoustic guitar and followed up by some really annoying sampling and noise, it’s very out of place. A weak ending to such a solid album, we’ll let the rest of the album make up for it though.

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