Did a search through the archive and was rather surprised to see that
Strom.ec had never got their own dedicated thread over the years.
This all spurred by pulling out "Divine Legions Beyond Psyche" for the first time in a while the other day and getting reacquainted with what a supremely magnificent album it is. I can't think if many, if any at all, power electronics releases that you can describe as having a "dystopian sci-fi" vibe like "Divine Legions..." gives. I remember seeing a thread on here during many years of lurking that mentioned the
Strom.ec guys had taken a lot of inspiration from Soldnergeist, and you can definitely hear that. The "Global Media Control" album, in particular, might be the closest thing both thematically and sonically to "Divine Legions," but the latter is its own unique beast.
Knowing their appreciation of PK Dick might make it obvious, but sitting back and getting submerged in the sound really does make it feel at times like you're in some kind of hallucinatory, oppressive, reality-altered state being controlled by massive, impersonal forces, just like something out of a Dick story, particularly on "Helvetin Esikartano" and most of "Vitaalinen Olomuoto." But when they want to bring the fire, its as heavy as ever, with maybe some of their most aggressive work and vocals of all: "Treatment Protocol" (which also makes use of some very Whitehouse/SJ like high pitched feedback, something I don't think they'd utilized heavily to this point), "Divine Legions Beyond Pscyche Pt. 2," and the last 4 minutes of "Vitaalinen Olomuoto," which, to my mind, might be 4 of the most perfect p.e. minutes ever...absolutely CRUSHING noise, rhythms, and vocals that explode at the perfect time from the long buildup before it....my only complaint is I wish it were longer...but it also proves that sometimes less is more.
Listening to it with the collaboration with Theologian back to back is a perfect complement.
Beyond that, I'd say "Laboratorio Suomi" probably has gotten the most play by me over the years. I love the raw power of the live versions of all those classic tracks, but all of their releases have something to offer.
Which brings me to a final question. Its been 16(!!) years since "Divine Legions," the last proper release of new material. We've had some new Cloama since then. Is there the possibility of something new from
Strom.ec still to come someday?
