A portion of my, "not at work" time, is spent in a music community on Facebook in which we rank our favorite albums of yesteryear. Often, in doing so, I run across an album or a band that either slipped through the cracks or were wholly written off at the time. Stabbing Westward definitely fell into the latter of the two. "A shotgun wedding between Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails" is how one of my friends categorized their emergence. I was a little more open-minded, albeit cynical after seeing the video for "Nothing" on MTV. Then, quite unexpectedly, I discovered they were on a compilation I owned from the year prior, The Cyberflesh Conspiracy, an electronic and industrial collection. Therein was the track, "Violent Mood Swings" and it suggested a band that was more Meat Beat Manifesto or Skinny Puppy. Not a dramatic departure from Nine Inch Nails - I get it, but it definitely stripped away the discourse that this band was some industrial-rock, record-exec manifestation. More importantly, it proved to me that Stabbing Westward's debut on a major label was not simply an overzealous umbrella to reign in that "alternative" sound.
In all fairness, Ungod is a departure from their material in 1992 and 1993 - if Nine Inch Nails is a $15 dessert from a fine restaurant, this album is the kind of dessert a 10 year old concocts. That's not meant to be insulting, but Ungod comes off as an album with hooks instead of chords and the kind of lyrical animosity that sends mailbombs to it's ex. It seems extreme in it's sultry, seething, concussive framework and every track is meticulously crafted to ensnare.
"What is this thing?" It's the Island Of Dr. Moreau of Albums.Tell me, how is that possible in two shorts years? Was it a team of engineers that would rival Madonna's liner notes? Nope - I've seen more production notes on a Jim Nabors record. Then the name pooped out, "John Fryer" - engineer for Depeche Mode, Cranes, Fad Gadget, Love And Rockets, a whole host of 4AD bands, and yep - Nine Inch Nails. Case dismissed? I don't think so. An engineer can turn good into great, and steer the ship - especially a veteran with a new band.
Ungod borrows, and begs and steals, and I'd be foolish to turn a blind eye to that. I'm sure there's a handful of bands who wondered what the line between theft and similarity stood. But Stabbing Westward cannot be so easily dismissed. They brought something to the table that allowed a talented engineer to take it to another level. Even at this young a stage, Stabbing Westward were already developing an uncanny knack at song craft that blended harsh industrial noise into textures that complimented not only their musical proficiency, but also built a framework that fed the angry lyrics of Christopher Hall. The songs are allowed to cascade and build, there is no rush to the reward... all the while whispered to angry vocals lead you on a journey through betrayal and hatred. Hall's vocals may be the most haunting you will find on any industrial rock album of the 90s, but they are able to reach an intensity that evokes believably. Bass lines are actually well-crafted, and compliment drummer, David Suycott's style perfectly. Reading through the liner notes, I saw that writing was shared by several of the members, which added to convictions that Ungod was anything but a corporate whore.
Yes, "Control", "Nothing", "Violent Mood Swings", "Ungod" and "Lies" are extreme versions of a Nine Inch Nails song. I won't deny that, and maybe I should say, "Fuck this album!" and walk away. However, even though the familiarity is painfully too close or unoriginal - these tracks, the albums singles, are extremely well performed and they are a diabetic coma. If somebody took all of the original Jonny Quest characters and made a new series called "Ronny Adventurer" and carried on killing Lizard Men - I'm watching it. Just sayin'.
For me however - if all that I had to sink my teeth into were the aforementioned tracks, I would probably not even write this review. But tracks like "Red On White" and "Can't Happen Here" reflect a Stabbing Westward that's not contrived or lead down the yellow brick road, but a band that paid a lot of attention to the best parts of My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult's debut, and Skinny Puppy, and Wolfsheim. There is brilliance is these lesser known tracks that exceeds expectations for a band on their debut album.
As a whole, Stabbing Westward presented an exceptional album throughout. If it's only flaw is that it's familiar, then I'm willing to forgive it's transgressions. It took something done and carried it down the road without falling - good enough for me. Did they do it alone, no... but I believe even without John Fryer, Stabbing Westward would have offered an Ungod equally captivating and solid throughout.
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