I will continue with the Metalectro music history today but this will be only the first part. I’ll focus more on the more recent history and the more underground names that shaped and defined the sound, or at least underground comparing to giants like Justice, Daft Punk, Prodigy, etc… The second part will be about the future of Metalectro as a genre and style and the new kids on the block that seem to be the next gen and ready to explode and go supersonic anytime soon in my opinion. So, let’s get started…
The History…
His name has been in almost all hard electro related blogs this month and being the most famous artist of the Metalectro blog last month are sure two facts that make Owl Vision a name that attracts many eyes and ears on him. None of these facts has to do anything with him playing a part in shaping what is known as the death electro sound though, on the contrary i think it was that influence and role he played in defining it that lead Owl Vision where he is now. Back in 2008 he released his first album “Comorbid” and from that album i have picked the track Owl Vision himself believes to be his first death electro track, “Reaper”. That’s where it all starts for him, the rest is just evolution…
I wanted to post “Reign In Blood” by Q.G. next as it sure deserves to be mentioned as one of the first Metalectro tracks but i posted it recently so i’ll move to another name that has played his role and a track that very successfully crossed over from rock to electro, Dilemn‘s “Flying Guitar”. It was back in 2009 when this track saw the light of day and was released and sure it had to take Dilemn down the road of success! Maybe the idea won’t sound as impressive today but a couple of years ago the artists who would come up with tracks like this and dared to cross over between these two styles and genres were writing their own paragraph or maybe even page in the Metalectro history book.
Saint Pauli has rightfully earned a place in the history book of Metalectro as well with the track “I Need Rhythm”. Influenced obviously by giants such as Daft Punk and Boys Noize, Saint Pauli released “I Need Rhythm” in 2009 and made it clear that they had some rhythm! Even though it is a track that once again sounds very different than the two previous tracks it sure makes clear that Saint Pauli like to rock too! Robot rock would be a good description for this kind of sound, using the title of one and maybe the most influential track, as sound and concept, for the Metalectro idea. Do i need to say it’s by Daft Punk? So, here come Saint Pauli with their very own bit of Metalectro history!
For the end and more specifically the last two paragraphs and tracks for today’s chapter of Metalectro history lesson we will cross over to the US, just like the last two names and tracks for today crossed over between the electro and rock sound. The first is by a name that has been coming up with this sound for the last 3 years and more but that’s about when i think things got really interesting with Trash Yourself. The Brooklyn duo had already shown a tendency of producing dirty and hard electro before with tracks like “Fuck The Police” but it was their track “Forget It” that really gave them their place in the Metalectro pantheon!
Last but not least, and how could he be least with tracks like this remix on Grum’s “Go Back” or the remix on Smashing Pumpkins “Zero Machine” and the original “Nobody Gets Out Alive” just to name a few tracks by Le Castle Vania that all deserve to be here. I picked the remix on “Go Back” to be the track that will represent Le Castle Vania influence and sound in today’s history lesson. The only reason might be that it is one of the older tracks that Le Castle Vania produced and had this hard boiled and tight sound that later lead to the Le Castle Vania explosion. It was about a couple of years ago and maybe longer when Le Castle Vania did this remix and i have to admit that it’s a perfect example of the early days!
That will be the end of Metalectro – The History & The Future pt.1 and boy were these some tracks? I hope you enjoyed and found this post informative as for where it all originates from, of course the history of the Metalectro concept can reach back to almost 20 years ago, when the metal bands in the mid 90’s were having a couple of dance remixes of theirs as bonus tracks in their “best of” albums. But that’s another story for another time possibly… For now that’s where The History ends…
To be continued…