REVIEWS > UNDER ENEMY CONTROL


Rocksound (UK)

Judging by last album 'Negativity', Audio War are men of few words (although they're not short of a sample or six), preferring instead to batter you with pounding beats and nail-gun basslines.

This is the companion remix to said album and we're treated to the usual offering of reworkings by friends and well-wishers.

The brilliant KreuzDammer version of 'Super Freak' could scare Pitchshifter and a pounding new take on 'Breaking Down' would certainly give The Prodigy something to sweat over. Elsewhere The Aggression, The Pain Machinery and Libitina all take turns to make their mark on 'Money Shot', 'Audio Crash' and 'One Drug' respectively, and with more hits than misses this disc proves one enemy worth hunting down.

Gilez Moorhouse

Virus Magazine (USA)

I was thinking about the club scene in the film Sid and Nancy when Sid took his bass guitar and started beating the shit out of the music critic in the crowd. It occurred to me that a guitar, bass or otherwise, besides being used to beat the shit out of hapless music journos, is pretty useless in a club where electronic music is being played. But after listening to this CD, I admit that my thinking was misguided.

Under Enemy Control is the new remix CD from Audio War, a band comprised of Graham Rayner (ex-Cubanate) and Christian Weber (K-Nitrate). Actually, Under Enemy Control is the companion CD to the band's Negativity CD, an album that I, admittedly, have not listened to.

Regardless of my inability to compare and contrast to the original recording and despite my persistent cynicism toward the whole remix phenomenon in general, I have to admit that this CD truly kicks ass.

Right from the beginning, the KreuzDammer remix of Super Freak, with its massive and, albeit, repetitive guitar riff, sets a brutal pace for the rest of the album.

What was also refreshing was the attention paid to the bass lines, for example on Money Shot, that often go overlooked in electronic music.

An awesome CD from start to finish, this CD was intensely fun to listen to, whether you are bouncing on the bed (I've never done this, but know somebody that does) or dancing like a drunken idiot (this I have done).

Michael Casano  (8/10)

Chain DLK (Italy)

Graham Rayner (ex Cubanate) and Christian Weber (of K-Nitrate) released their previous Audio War CD 'Negativity' the last year and in the review I did, I told that their method of composing their blend of technologic industrial metal seemed the result of an auto remix process.

Now we have the opportunity to check what if their stuff was remixed by other people, because the new 'Under Enemy Control' contains nine remixed or re-made versions of six tracks (the tracks are 'Super Freak', 'Breaking Down', 'One Drug', 'Money Shot', 'Analyze') contained into the that album. On the remix front we have The Pain Machinery, Hyperfactor, Libitina, KreuzDammer and Action Directe while Audio War re-worked 'Breaking Down' (now 'Low down mix'), 'One Drug' ('Stealth Mix'), 'Analyze' ('Dub' and 'K-Nitrate De-humanize Remix').

The whole work even if it is the result of different people sounds balanced and not too much different from the style of the duo. The only exceptions are the Libitina mix (because of its dark melodies), The Pain Machinery version of 'Audio crash' (their version sounds like a techno industrial extreme assault) and Action Directe (they made out of 'Super freak' an acid house industrial deranged track).

I'd wish all my enemies would treat my music this way...

Maurizio Pustianaz ( 4.5/5)

Side-Line (Belgium)

This is the second full length album from the 'Audio War' combo, which has been seen as a prolongation to the 'Negativity' CD. Several songs on this album have been remixed here.

Some of the remixes by 'Audio War' themselves evolve towards influences reminding of 'The Prodigy'. It's a real pity (and probably the only weak point of the CD) that 'Audio War' still goes on without a singer. I think that the addition of vocal lines would add a bonus to cuts like 'Breaking Down - Low Down Remix' and 'One Drug - Stealth Mix'. Both remixes are definitely great pieces of crossover music!

Another main cut is the 'Libitina' remix of 'One Drug', which is more into electronic stuff and redefined with string parts.

The 'K-Nitrate' remix ('Audio War' remains a side-project of 'K-Nitrate') of 'Analyze' is another cool cut!

'Kreuzdammer', 'The Aggression', 'The Pain Machinery' and 'Action Directe' each provide a remix. (7/10)

Dark Entries  (Belgium)
A remix album and I can see you frown... Under Enemy Control is the companion album to the very positively received album Negativity, which came out in 2004.

To be honest, I am unfamiliar with the original album so I am unable to compare the remixes to their originals. What I do know is that Audio War pays tribute to its name. Class industrial metal and that's not surprising if you know that Graham Rayner (ex Cubanate) and Christian Weber (K-Nitrate) are behind this project. Two important exponents of the British underground who gave their work to equally minded souls to remix.

Most songs (Analyze, One Drug, Superfreak) are featured twice which is a shame and since there are only 9 remixes on this EP you can't really call it an album.

Audio War themselves are also responsible for some remixes and these are for me the more consistent ones. Libitina (a gothic rock band?) is too repetitive and monotonous. Other remixes are by The Pain Machinery, KreuzDammer, Action Directe and K-Nitrate and especially the last one is irresistible for industrial metal heads.

Also pay attention to the dub version of the same song and the stealth mix of One Drug, one of the hits of the Negativity album.

Under Enemy Control is strongly recommended for people who like their cyber metal without compromises like Audio War's biggest example Ministry. Even though this is a remix album, it doesn't take anything away from Audio War's merits."

(Thanks to Bart for the translation)