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2 out of 10
Dr. Frankenstein has risen again, and stalks the music business. He now calls himself 'Del Alien' and is, yet again, on a mission of scientific darkness - touting his latest disc of torment, the unpronounceable Acedia. If this single is anything to go by, he appears to have exhumed several late '70s / early '80s 'post-punk' bands, hacked them up and stitched the useful bits together to form the truly nightmarish History Of Guns. Ian Curtis duets with John Lydon on the first track, whilst Gary Numan de-scales his Casio and Ministry turn their amps down to 'ill-advised'. Empty Eyes would do well as the soundtrack to a video game in which zombies take over the Hacienda, which is probably why Sony have employed Del-boy and his mates to provide noisy snippets for the PSP.
Lyrically, an unnamed 'she' has, unsurprisingly, got 'empty eyes'. The said character will also be brought 'down to her knees', for some reason. This is repeated ad nauseum while the guitars grind and the drum machine fizzes, until Mr. Alien incongruously claims 'I gave her one' before marching into a chant of 'go hate'. Some of the words are a bit indistinct, however. Your mileage will vary, and will end in tears. The second half of the A brings us not so much a 'goth metal Underworld' (© Metal Hammer) as a 'terminally depressed Human League' (© DSD). Here is where the 'Guns give an indication of how 'terrifying and exhilarating' they are, with a no-holds-barred vacuum cleaner full of musical darkness set to 'blow'. It is the sound of David Vanian drowning in a mud-filled bath, or rather what a computer would come up with if fed words like 'goth', 'electronica', 'industrial' and 'not enough sleep'. 'Now you are pathetic', spits the misanthropic Speak-and-Spell - as if anticipating this very review - and ends with the barely-concealed threat, 'now everyone else is over-strangled'. Because you wouldn't want anyone under-strangled, obviously.
Listen: www.myspace.com/historyofguns
Tracklist:
1. Empty Eyes
2. .But I'll Be Waiting
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