I first saw the video for the song "Nothing" on Much Music in mid 1994. IN the summer of 1994 I found the CD (I was poor) in a second hand CD shop and bought it immediately. This was a few months after having seen the Nothing video ONE TIME ONLY - but from the video I knew I liked the sound. I liked NIN, Ministry, PWEI and this sound was right along those lines.
Boy am I glad I picked this CD up. It was stunning. I do like some of Stabbing Westward's other albums tremendously but this one takes the cake. It really is a powerful journey that flows nicely from start to finish with extremely catchy floor-pounding songs. Yes that's right floor-pounding. The way this album was recorded is perfect. If you like the thundering bass of Tool's "Undertow" or Rage Against The Machine's eponymous debut then you'll love the levels the kick drum and bass are recorded on this album. Very nice and deep to give your subs a true workout without being intrusive of the rest of the music.
Naturally this CD is best played loud! :-)
From the beginning you can see why there are comparison's to Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine and Broken EP releases. It is wise to keep in mind though that Ungod was released on February 15th, 1994 whilst The Downward Spiral was released a few weeks later on March 8th, 1994 - so there's no logic in saying anything on Ungod was borrowed from Trent's Spiral.
The album's intro leads to Control which opens with a machine gun barrage of guitar and drums. The verse hits you with hardly any guitar but great synth sounds and a bass line to die for that gives new meaning to the saying, "bass - how low can you go?" Hearing this first song Control really let me know I was in for a treat with this record.
Nothing, which was Stabbing Westward's first ever single, is probably my least favourite song on the album. It's not bad but the rest of the album I think was far better.
ACF, Lies and Ungod blend so well you will no doubt listen to them through quite a few times in this order. Lies and Violent Mood Swings are the flat out heaviest songs on the album. I fond myself squeezing a fist when I listen to Violent Mood Swings, it really is a very danceable yet "kick you in the teeth" kind of song. Red and White seems to borrow a little from "Help Me I Am In Hell" by NIN but has much more to the beginning of the song (including lyrics)
The final track on the album, Can't Happen Here, is my absolute favourite. This song is just perfect and I have no doubt even now that to add or remove anything from this song would be to ruin it. Just when you think you're approching the end of the album the band comes exploding through your mind with the refrain "It just can't happen here." What I really love about this refrain at the end is they don't ruin it by only playing it once or twice - it comes at you a good eight times! The drums are perfect and if you don't find yourself with a body full of taut tendons then you weren't really listening. This is the most powerful song off the album. Isn't that one of the best ways to end an album? To start strong and finish strong? You may feel almost out of breath at the conclusion of this album, which is why the three bell-tones to end the album give you that brief cool down!
I was fortunate enough on October 24th, 1994 to see Stabbing Westward open up for Killing Joke at The Opera House in Toronto, Ontario. They were touring their first album and their show was so powerful. I think I was the only person at the show to have a Stabbing Westward t-shirt on but by the end of their set I think everyone had the name Stabbing Westward on their minds.
This is truly one of the better albums of the 90's. Do yourself a favour and check it out particularly if you like Stabbing Westward's other material. You will not be dissappointed with this purchase.