We love to kick a man when he's down, don't we? Yes, it's true DEATH IN VEGAS have parted company with their record company of ten years and were ejected from the producer's chair(s) at the aborted Oasis album sessions, but there's a distinct frisson going around the industry that seems to have written them off already. Amazing, isn't it? Especially when their new album, for the most past at least, sounds like a bold new statement of intent.
Your reviewer will concede that the chinese whispers about the minimal, Krautrock-influenced grooves of "Satan's Circus" are accurate, mind. Indeed, anyone expecting another "Contino Sessions" and the presence of such as Bobby Gillespie, Paul Weller and Iggy Pop lurking in the vocal booth had better stuff their preconceptions in their rucksacks and bugger off back to Hoxton right now because that's not what you're gonna get. Besides, the rest of us aren't gonna have a problem with "Satan's Circus"at all.
So yeah, it is pared back, stripped down and virtually entirely instrumental. But in eschewing the rockier tendencies, Messrs Fearless and Holmes have still turned in something pretty damn sublime, even if it takes a few plays before it burrows resolutely beneath your skin.
Certainly, the Krautrock influence is to the fore on several of the key tracks. Both opener "Ein Fur Die Damen" and "Sons Of Rother"glide along on Neu-like motorik grooves with insistent, Jaki Leibezeit-style drumming, while the glitchy beats and synthscapes of "Zugaga" and the distant minimalism of "Candie McKenzie" recall both Kraftwerk and the early Warp stable. Crucially, though, it feels natural rather than forced and all of these tracks are pretty memorable without having to try too hard to ram the point home.
And the Krautrock aspect is by no means the whole picture. For example, try the swooshy vistas of "Heil Zanax": the title refers to a prescription drug used to combat anxiety, but the track is initially blissed-out and trancelike, with vocalist Susan Delane making a balmy, otherwordly contribution that's more of an additional exotic texture than anything else. Just when you think it's safe to relax, Mat Flint levers up a subterranean bassline that's the epitome of prime Jah Wobble and it gets taken to another level altogether. Then there's "Black Lead", which is a looped and ominous thrum not unlike an Eastern-influenced Cabaret Voltaire and dripping with atmosphere.
There are a couple of less satisfying moments. "Anita Berber" is named after the 1930s Berlin cabaret star, but it's an odd handle to give to the drifting, sparse semi-ambience of the track itself, while the snaky synths and pop pulsings of "Kontroll" are nice enough in a Kraftwerk meets early OMD kinda way, but ultimately a tad forgettable. The ultra-minimal Brian Eno-style kiss off "Come Over To Our Side, Softly Softly" is also a bit of an anticlimax, especially as it follows the barnstorming "Head", which is the one throwback to the rockier DIV we're familiar with. It's great too: with Mat Flint's Hook-ish bassline swooping like a bird of prey and the guitars instilling that hallmark moody presence.
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As if to remind us of their all-guns-blazing power, there's also an additional live CD of DIV recorded in Brixton. Naturally, this is pretty peerless stuff, with highlights including the evil, Killing Joke-style prowl of "Death Threat", Dot Allison's disembodied, wraith-like chant of a vocal crushed under the Arabian might of "Dirge" and of course the nerve-end fraying monster mantra of "Blood Yawning", which never fails to stun. The warped electro pulsings of this track's intro and the nagging thrum of "Hands Around My Throat," though, are by no means dissimilar to the designs paraded on the new studio recordings, and remind us that - for all their live, rockist cred - Death In Vegas have always commanded respect and basked in prestige first and foremost on the dancefloor.
Admittedly, due to its' lack of star turns and thus recognisable anthems, "Satan's Circus" may ultimately be viewed more as a critical rather than commercial success, but that shouldn't diminish its' achievements. Granted, Holmes and Fearless may have fallen foul of a few banana skins of late, but it's to their credit that thay've dusted themselves down and continued on to push the envelope further again. They're still cracking the whip at "Satan's Circus" and the lions will have to go on baying for blood for some time yet.
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