VOX POPULI!

[FreakAnimalFinland]

Was listening to H.N.A.S. / Vox Populi! "Face To Face Vol. 2" LP. HNAS has some nice moments, but too much of drum machine+guitar stuff. Side ends with great sounds, but there's too much of some sort of lame post-punk rubbish in middle.  Vox Populi! is something I'm curious. It is sometimes described as "Ethno-industrial" and indeed, few tracks on this split are totally over the edge of can the be listened, but in other hand, there are very good moments. Considering this is 1989 release, how is the early stuff? Band did first release in 1982 so I'd assume one could expect harder edge?

[Strömkarlen]

Well Vox Populi is never hard but still excellent. I haven't heard the really early stuff. The two tapes on Cthulhu Records Ebats Spirituels and Half Dead Ganja Music are so good. I listened to them endlessly in the late eighties.
There is a CD out on Monochrome called Cthulhu Revisitation. I had a feeling that something was wrong and then I see the dreaded sentence on the back of the cover "All tracks were digitally remastered and few ones were lightly overdubbed."
I have seek out the earlier that I never knew existed but are listed on discogs.

[bogskaggmannen]

I would say they took parts of the legacy from Amon Düül 2 to new levels, with more laidback approach and without drums, and more focus on synth and ancient atmospheres. The earliest one I have is the "Myscitismes" LP on Vox Man (their own imprint I think?) from 1985 - good one. As Mr. Ström said, the two tapes on Cthulhu are (mostly) excellent stuff. One of them is a part-collaboration with Pacific 231 but I can't really hear his contribution. Those three are in the same vein with shorter tracks of Mithra singing on some tracks. One problem one might have with them overall is that (as mentioned) tracks are often very short, no chance to fully bloom out. But of course there are others who do more monotonous material so I don't have a problem with it personally. I wouldn't call ANY of them "industrial" though. Stay away from the "Aither" LP from 1989 which is predominantly boring "rock"-structures with bad melodies and lighter touch overall. I have yet to hear any of the very early recordings.

[Bloated Slutbag]

Well Vox Populi is never hard but still excellent. The two tapes on Cthulhu Records Ebats Spirituels and Half Dead Ganja Music are so good.

The latter's favorite. Half dead ganja music? No doubt. Mellowtonic bearddrone bongscrape made right via heady ritual aromas obscuring distant fumble-clunk and dazed mumble-grunt... just crank that bass and revel in Throb Almighty.

[Zeno Marx]

interview in ND13 HERE