Band:	Despair (JPN)
Album:	Deserted Technology Riot
Style:	Industrial metal
Release date:	2006

01. Jarring God
02. MPD Conflict
03. Filth Pig
04. Junk War
05. Mechanical Rabies

Despair is a band hailing from Japan proving that this country, except for the Visual Kei and the J-Rock musical movements, can offer some top quality music in the chapter of harsh electronics! Harsh industrial electro with rock/metal distorted guitar riffing and both male and female vocals is what this Japanese act presents and what really impressed me in the beginning was the fact that they sound more violent and powerful than the average European industrial/electro act, something truly remarkable, at least in my point of view.

"Deserted Technology Riot" is their new EP and it consists of 5 tracks, each of which competes with the other in terms of chaos, paranoia, violence and dismay, giving a new meaning to the word "despair". Rieu and Ana, the two vocalists of the band, pour themselves into distress, surrounding the listener with the worst nightmares you could ever cherish in the abstract world of your dreams. Rieu interprets with deep and hypnotic grunting/screaming vocals, evoking the nightmarish feeling, whereas Ana unfolds her clean vocals which are in an utterly paranoiac death rock vein (this is probably how Gitane DeMone or Eva O would like to sound if they were members of Despair), pretty intense and desperate through a lunatic's point view, blending with Rieu's vomiting curses in the most appropriate way. As for the music, if an album title could present the sound of Despair then the most ideal one would be Mysticum's "in the streams of inferno", simply because the sounds of heavy industry are all present and never fail to sound raw and violent, concealing all tranquility. The synth-born/keyboard melodies, whether they sound chaotic or a bit calmer (without forgetting to sound menacing though), they never fail to unfold twisted visions in the ravenous atmosphere. The beat, the industrial sounds and the sequences lend a more bombastic approach to the album and hold tight the compositions, whereas the guitars lurk like low-frequency creatures longing to be set free and electrocute yourself to death. As for the production, it's done by Rieu and it is the ideal one for such sound, being raw and sharp, making the overall ultraviolent soundscape more vivid.

"Deserted Technology Riot" was an apocalypse to me, maybe because i didn't know what to expect, maybe because i wasn't expecting something that ground-shaking, maybe because i was thinking that Japan can't offer that good industrial music, maybe, maybe, maybe. Nah, fuck those maybes, Despair are here and prove that if they are given the chance they can pollute the earth with their ominous tunes in the most macabre yet beautiful way! I bet these guys cause a massacre on stage since they can kill through their album, check them out!