The Second Coming of Die Warzau

A good number of industrial bands that began in the 1980s still exist in some form or another. Very few of these bands do so on the strength of four full albums, the most recent of which was released ten years after the previous album. Such is Die Warzau. Originally founded in 1987 by Jim Marcus and Van Christie, the duo put out three albums, culminating in the critically acclaimed Engine (1995). Unlike many "obscure" bands, the ten years that lapsed between Engine and 2005's Convenience was not due to label woes. The two main artists simply decided to take a hiatus from Die Warzau to work on other projects. Convenience was worth the wait. While Die Warzau never shied away from its industrial roots, it also has never hesitated to deviate from the usual non-melodic noise. This constant melding and reworking of electronic, dance, funk, jazz, industrial and Jim Marcus's expressive vocals come to fruition on Convenience.

"Glare" off of Convenience and Vinyl 88 (2008):



Part EP and part best-of, Vinyl 88 was released in 2008, perhaps in an effort to combat Convenience's rapidly occurring out-of-print status. Vinyl 88 includes six new tracks and 10 others from the previous four albums. Songs from Convenience remain pretty much unchanged while tracks from the first three albums have been tweaked and remixed to bring forward Marcus's vocals and to create a cohesive album. Considering that only Engine and Vinyl 88 are easily available from Amazon.com, the compilation is a good choice if Convenience isn't available. (As of 1/12/09, a Google shopping search reaped Convenience available through Walmart!)