Music Exile - CD Reviews

RAZED IN BLACK

>>INTERVIEW WITH ROMMEL REGULACION
	Album: "Damaged" Label: Cleopatra Records (2003) Style: Industrial Rock / Synth-pop / Dark Trance Songs: 19	A
Reviewed by: Darklight I really liked the first Razed in Black CD Shrieks, Laments And Anguished Cries. It quickly became one of my favorite albums of 1996. Three years later Razed in Black released a follow-up entitled Sacrificed. While containing some great songs, it also had its fair share of less than thrilling tracks as well. It focused a little too much on heavy guitar rock, and not enough on electronics. Also, it contained some of the worst out-of-place filler to ever grace an album. Basically, it was a difficult CD to enjoy from beginning to end because it had a lot of snags along the way. Now, four years later, Razed in Black finally releases the follow-up entitled Damaged, and it’s easily the best music Razed in Black has ever done. Damaged comes packaged in a nice Digi-Pak, and offers two discs of music. Disc one is the Damaged album and disc two is an eight song remix CD. And best of all, you get all of this for the price of one CD. It almost makes up for the four year wait…almost. Romell Regulacion is the mastermind behind Razed in Black. He does everything here including the singing, electronic programming and guitars. This music is electronic first and foremost. The guitars are an added layer that give the songs a little more punch. But you’ll be glad to know that Romell has toned down on them a bit on this recording preventing them from drowning out his exceptionally well programmed electro music. Each and every song offered on this CD is superb, and sound different. Romell really mixes it up on this release. The music is energetic dark trance with layer upon layer of sounds and heavy beats with guitar thrown into the middle all placed over dramatic melodies. Romell has improved greatly as a singer, and sings with a deeper tone and more power than ever before. Actually, it’s somewhat difficult to recognize a lot of these songs as Razed in Black since they sound so much different from anything Romell has done in the past. Some tracks sound like industrial rock, some like EBM, some like synth-pop and some like trance. All these genres are included here, and done to perfection. Romell has obviously advanced as a musician over the years perfecting his skills to a level that he hasn‘t had previously. Variety is the spice of life, and Romell understands this. He has compiled one of the most varied and diverse recordings I’ve heard in a while. The eight song remix CD is a nice bonus, and could have ultimately been sold on its own as an EP. While a couple of the remixes sound similar to the original songs, the majority of them have been twisted and tweaked in completely new directions. These are actually remixes I will listen to as they’re a big enough change from the originals to make them sound fresh and different. This Razed in Black Damaged recording could very well be album of the year. Everything about it is done properly. The songs are the perfect mix of genres never letting one dominate the other. They each sound different, but still close enough to remain consistent. The tracks are placed in a superb order to allow each song to sound like it’s where it belongs. And there’s no filler. Each track is a full-length structured song. The eight track remix CD is the icing on the cake.
	Album: "Sacrificed" Label: Cleopatra Records (1999) Style: Coldwave Songs: 14	B
Reviewed by: Darklight Romell Regulacion (a.k.a. Razed in Black) is back with his follow up to 1996's excellent "Shrieks, Laments And Anguished Cries". Razed in Black is a guitar heavy crossover industrial band similar to Nine Inch Nails. This CD features some extremely intense and energetic songs. While the music is angry and aggressive, it also uses a lot of electronics, synths and samples. Each song delivered here sounds different and include some really nice changes. The solid structures, driving beats and diverse singing really show that Romell has matured as a musician and really knows how to mix in a lot of variety from track to track. These songs rock, but include great creativity as well. The overall CD is very polished and well produced with a high quality to it. There are many similarities to Nine Inch Nails and Stabbing Westward to be heard here, but the songs do have their own edge as well. My only complaint is that there are four ambient experimental filler tracks that are out of place. These ruin the flow of the CD. This is the type of band that is best at just dishing out hard and heavy guitar thrashing industrial rock assaults. Dreary ambient instrumentals just don't fit well on a CD such as this. They really bring down the overall feel of the CD. But that's not to say there isn't enough quality tracks here to be enjoyed. You just have to skip past some annoying ambient filler to get to them. If you like aggressive guitar heavy industrial music, this CD is a must.
	Album: "Overflow" Label: Cleopatra Records (1997) Style: Coldwave Songs: 7	B
Reviewed by: Darklight This is a Razed in Black remix CD. Three of the remixes are done by Razed in Black, while the others are done by Leaether Strip, Brain Leisure and Implant. The songs remixed are from Razed in Black's debut CD "Shrieks, Laments And Anguished Cries" and include the tracks "Forlorn", "What's Fair?", "Power", "Control", "Just Let It Go" and "Future Unkown". The original versions of these tracks were energetic and fast paced to begin with, so these remixes aren't a lot different. They do have more of an electronic edge than the originals, but that's not enough to make them sound fresh. While I do like these remixes, I still like the originals slightly more. There's one original song here titled "Overflow". I like it a lot, but it's not worth the price of the EP. This would be a good CD to get if you haven't heard Razed in Black before and want a taste of what they're like. This is also good for people that really like remixes a lot. However, if you already have Razed in Black's debut CD, there isn't too much to get excited about here.
	Album: "Shrieks, Laments And Anguished Cries" Label: Cleopatra Records (1996) Style: Cyber-Core Songs: 13	A
Reviewed by: Darklight This is one of the best new Cyber-Core bands to hit the scene. There are guitars mixed with extremely well done electronics and synths. The vocalsare distorted, and scream with the same energy of Trent Reznor. Each song on this album is just as good as the next one, but all sound a lot different from each other. They all contain a mixture between melodic and catchy dance floor hooks that explode into fierce, angry, and aggressive thrash punk. Everything on this album is done perfectly presenting an extremely tight and polished sound throughout. The unique blending of electronics and synths together make for some incredible music that just grabs you. The guitars and mixture of melodic and screaming vocals fit in perfectly. This album is definitley a must own for all industrial music fans.

RAZED IN BLACK

Album: "Damaged"
Label: Cleopatra Records (2003)
Style: Industrial Rock / Synth-pop / Dark Trance
Songs: 19

Reviewed by: Darklight

I really liked the first Razed in Black CD Shrieks, Laments And Anguished Cries. It quickly became one of my favorite albums of 1996. Three years later Razed in Black released a follow-up entitled Sacrificed. While containing some great songs, it also had its fair share of less than thrilling tracks as well. It focused a little too much on heavy guitar rock, and not enough on electronics. Also, it contained some of the worst out-of-place filler to ever grace an album. Basically, it was a difficult CD to enjoy from beginning to end because it had a lot of snags along the way. Now, four years later, Razed in Black finally releases the follow-up entitled Damaged, and it’s easily the best music Razed in Black has ever done.

Damaged comes packaged in a nice Digi-Pak, and offers two discs of music. Disc one is the Damaged album and disc two is an eight song remix CD. And best of all, you get all of this for the price of one CD. It almost makes up for the four year wait…almost.

Romell Regulacion is the mastermind behind Razed in Black. He does everything here including the singing, electronic programming and guitars. This music is electronic first and foremost. The guitars are an added layer that give the songs a little more punch. But you’ll be glad to know that Romell has toned down on them a bit on this recording preventing them from drowning out his exceptionally well programmed electro music.

Each and every song offered on this CD is superb, and sound different. Romell really mixes it up on this release. The music is energetic dark trance with layer upon layer of sounds and heavy beats with guitar thrown into the middle all placed over dramatic melodies. Romell has improved greatly as a singer, and sings with a deeper tone and more power than ever before. Actually, it’s somewhat difficult to recognize a lot of these songs as Razed in Black since they sound so much different from anything Romell has done in the past.

Some tracks sound like industrial rock, some like EBM, some like synth-pop and some like trance. All these genres are included here, and done to perfection. Romell has obviously advanced as a musician over the years perfecting his skills to a level that he hasn‘t had previously. Variety is the spice of life, and Romell understands this. He has compiled one of the most varied and diverse recordings I’ve heard in a while.

The eight song remix CD is a nice bonus, and could have ultimately been sold on its own as an EP. While a couple of the remixes sound similar to the original songs, the majority of them have been twisted and tweaked in completely new directions. These are actually remixes I will listen to as they’re a big enough change from the originals to make them sound fresh and different.

This Razed in Black Damaged recording could very well be album of the year. Everything about it is done properly. The songs are the perfect mix of genres never letting one dominate the other. They each sound different, but still close enough to remain consistent. The tracks are placed in a superb order to allow each song to sound like it’s where it belongs. And there’s no filler. Each track is a full-length structured song. The eight track remix CD is the icing on the cake.

Album: "Sacrificed"
Label: Cleopatra Records (1999)
Style: Coldwave
Songs: 14

Reviewed by: Darklight

Romell Regulacion (a.k.a. Razed in Black) is back with his follow up to 1996's excellent "Shrieks, Laments And Anguished Cries". Razed in Black is a guitar heavy crossover industrial band similar to Nine Inch Nails. This CD features some extremely intense and energetic songs. While the music is angry and aggressive, it also uses a lot of electronics, synths and samples. Each song delivered here sounds different and include some really nice changes. The solid structures, driving beats and diverse singing really show that Romell has matured as a musician and really knows how to mix in a lot of variety from track to track. These songs rock, but include great creativity as well. The overall CD is very polished and well produced with a high quality to it. There are many similarities to Nine Inch Nails and Stabbing Westward to be heard here, but the songs do have their own edge as well. My only complaint is that there are four ambient experimental filler tracks that are out of place. These ruin the flow of the CD. This is the type of band that is best at just dishing out hard and heavy guitar thrashing industrial rock assaults. Dreary ambient instrumentals just don't fit well on a CD such as this. They really bring down the overall feel of the CD. But that's not to say there isn't enough quality tracks here to be enjoyed. You just have to skip past some annoying ambient filler to get to them. If you like aggressive guitar heavy industrial music, this CD is a must.

Album: "Overflow"
Label: Cleopatra Records (1997)
Style: Coldwave
Songs: 7

Reviewed by: Darklight

This is a Razed in Black remix CD. Three of the remixes are done by Razed in Black, while the others are done by Leaether Strip, Brain Leisure and Implant. The songs remixed are from Razed in Black's debut CD "Shrieks, Laments And Anguished Cries" and include the tracks "Forlorn", "What's Fair?", "Power", "Control", "Just Let It Go" and "Future Unkown". The original versions of these tracks were energetic and fast paced to begin with, so these remixes aren't a lot different. They do have more of an electronic edge than the originals, but that's not enough to make them sound fresh. While I do like these remixes, I still like the originals slightly more. There's one original song here titled "Overflow". I like it a lot, but it's not worth the price of the EP. This would be a good CD to get if you haven't heard Razed in Black before and want a taste of what they're like. This is also good for people that really like remixes a lot. However, if you already have Razed in Black's debut CD, there isn't too much to get excited about here.

Album: "Shrieks, Laments And Anguished Cries"
Label: Cleopatra Records (1996)
Style: Cyber-Core
Songs: 13

Reviewed by: Darklight

This is one of the best new Cyber-Core bands to hit the scene. There are guitars mixed with extremely well done electronics and synths. The vocalsare distorted, and scream with the same energy of Trent Reznor. Each song on this album is just as good as the next one, but all sound a lot different from each other. They all contain a mixture between melodic and catchy dance floor hooks that explode into fierce, angry, and aggressive thrash punk. Everything on this album is done perfectly presenting an extremely tight and polished sound throughout. The unique blending of electronics and synths together make for some incredible music that just grabs you. The guitars and mixture of melodic and screaming vocals fit in perfectly. This album is definitley a must own for all industrial music fans.