Bong- Ra - I am The God of Hellfire [Very Freindly - 2008]This is a reissue of Bong- Ra’s 3rd and highly respected album from 2005 which mixers up a dark and heady electroinca storm and melds together elements of Breakcore, techno, rave, dark pop, dark ‘n’ hazed raga & the odd metallic edger’s. At it’s most effective I’ am the God of Hellfire feels like early Prodigy grimy and darker step brother- all dark ‘n’ bent synth lines going up against jagged bone juddering drum attacks, rhythmic runs and devilish workovers mixed in with speed up vocally elements and multiple singing performances. But things never become too hectic or manic in the beat department- the key word here is atmosphere with the ominous and dark synth lines never been too far away rising like malevolent comic book anti hero from the dense mix. There’s a nice selection of different vocalist and singing styles too through out the album- we go from Hanin Elias (Atari Teenage Riot, solo,ect) sexy electro punk rant on Go Tiger, To dark and screwed up raga tone on The Claw by Ras Bumpa, to abusive rave rant from Mike Redman on Pop That Cristal, to edgy and sensual female murs to damned Broadway chorus line On Kill the Sound by Willemyn. This is a highly varied and rewarding slice of edgy beat bound dark ‘n’ grimy electroinca & as a whole it would make a great soundtrack for cursing a dammed and corrupted future city maybe trailing either Judge Dread or Robocop. Roger Batty
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