Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Artist: Raunchy
Label: Lifeforce Records
Release: 2010
Runtime: 65:02
Rating: 1/5
It’s a real enigma why, after all these years, Raunchy are still rolling around on the fringes of the stardom stage, when they’re so nicely polished, so easy to listen to and so well suited to such a wide audience! The Danish metal phenomenon that blends electronics with organic metal guitars and goes by the name Raunchy has been serving up its gems of musical sophistication since 2001, with the seeds of the first outing reaching all the way back to 1994. If the first release, the album Velvet Noise, and the next in line – the record Confusion Bay or Death Pop Romance – were fresh, we can say outright that for the last few years that’s no longer the case. Raunchy have slid into formulaic craftsmanship, and that comes with an increasingly lukewarm reception of “new” musical sounds and “not yet heard” records.
So the core of the problem is that Raunchy want to please, right? The latest in the line is the pretentious and aesthetically very nicely designed little record A Discord Electric, but after the very first listen it becomes sadly clear almost instantly that this time we’re getting no great revolution, no step forward on the ladder of musical progress, or even any honest rage. The Danish take on the Gothenburg sound once again reaches into the arsenal of metalized pop and electronic toys. There are too many of the latter, while the former, the honest metal parts, are chronically in short supply. On A Discord Electric, Raunchy have birthed a dozen predictable little songs that can only shake up someone who has so far sharpened their ears on homegrown pop products. The synergy of the sextet has definitely clicked into place in the six years since first singer Lars Vognstrup left the band, but what comes out of it is pretty benign and hollow – sadly … Despite the name and the promise of something cheeky, unshaven and hard-hitting, you once again get fairly average salvos of pop-ness. But nice and slow, one by one.
The parade of kitsch opens with the punchy, nicely produced Dim The Lights And Run. The bright colors of the gentle vocals and the airy guitar riffs feast together in a way we know from Emil Bulls, trying to make instant contact with your neuralgic pleasure center. The weak breeze of the poor raspy vocals melts symbiotically into the pretty singing, and so does the will to dig any deeper. Still, Kasper’s virginally clean “pipes” are somehow the standout side of the record. He’s naive, sure, but natural, diet-minded and positive, and at least he feels what he’s selling you, even if you stay untouched … The guitar duo Tilsted – Christensen serves up pompous epic effects and the usual stereotypical finger slides up and down the neck. Rumors Of Worship doesn’t leave you hanging in the predictability department either, easily filed under the gray average of metalcore or the massive “malcore” turds that the assembly lines certainly don’t lack. It’s silly to blame a pile of songs that merely plug vacuum gaps in a deficient body of content. Truth be told, a lot of what you hear can easily be skipped. A case in point is the clone of the already-heard Rumors Of Worship and Night Prty, who are like Siamese twins. What’s sad is that a heap of crap on the record buries some very decent tracks, like the energetically Rammstein-esque The Great Depression and the rather similar but at least more lively Ire Vampire. While listening, you get the feeling that during writing and recording the band only had a formal requirement in mind for song length and the expected number of tracks. Instead of a dozen, we could’ve gotten a condensed selection on a wound-up, pumped-up EP, but this way the format waters down the essence and the main extract of everything good and innovative. Real men don’t record EPs, they’d rather throw themselves into the more lucrative business of making full-length albums? Hmmm …
To sum up: the organic sound of guitars and drums takes a back seat here – I’m talking about the record in general – since the dominant component and center of gravity of it all is cold electronics. If that doesn’t bother you, an extra shock to the system awaits. Unlike their countrymen Hatesphere or Mercenary, Raunchy are more radio-calibrated, but at least I stay so damn cold and untouched by this mellifluousness that I start doubting my own taste (or better: the taste of the wide circle of the masses). No tectonic shifts to feel this time, because there aren’t any. A Discord Electric is more of a scruffy beast, and after listening you’ll very quickly knock all the “deep” points out of your head, while somewhere in the back of your skull memories of rather catchy but wretched choruses will lurk. Given its malnourished content, the record is too long. The point where one of the rare compliments comes in is that Raunchy at least don’t throw sand in anyone’s eyes and truly, loudly claim their place not so much in the metal sky as in the pop sky – alongside Lady GaGa, Robbie Williams and Tokio Hotel. Quality pop is worthy of applause, and hats off to everyone with enough commercial instinct to make a living from music. You’ve got to live off something, pay the bills and have a little left over for hard recession times, right? Metal, though, has a hard time picturing such ephemeral hybrids. Only a few have pulled it off, and A Discord Electric is far from Rammstein, Metallica and similar surprises. Raunchy are closer to our Game Over, where the music and the content are of secondary importance. Sadly, and better luck (and balls) next time!
This review was made in collaboration withRock Hard Slovenija and RockLine.
Line-up
Kasper Thomsen – vocals
Jesper Tilsted – guitar
Lars Christensen – guitar
Jeppe Christensen – keyboards
Jesper Kvist – bass
MortenToft Hansen – drums
Production
Jacob Hanse, Jeppe Andersson & Raunchy
Tracklist
1. Dim The Lights And Run
2. Rumors Of Worship
3. Nght Prty
4. Street Emperor
5. Blueprints For Lost Sounds
6. Shake Your Grave
7. Tiger Crown
8. Big Truth
9. The Great Depression
10. The Yeah Thing
11. Ire Vampire
12. Gunslingers And Tombstones
