EC8OR is a German duo putting out their particular brand of sonic clamor on Alec Empire's Digital Hardcore label. An interesting thing about these Digital Hardcore bands is that though their music is almost completely associated with strident dissonance, few serious noise heads (fans of Muslimgauze, etc.) actually listen to them. Nothing about these groups is perceived as avant garde or intellectual, despite certain obvious strides they've made in bringing traditionally unappealing sounds to the relative mainstream. It could be that the half- baked messages implicit in most of the songs about fighting "the man" just aren't very convincing without any kind of context to place them in. Quite honestly, I don't know who's putting this music on the stereo regularly-- all I can think is that there must be quite a few suburban pockets of the young and angry who think conventional punk is for retro pussies.

Of all the ponies in the DHR stable, EC8OR are the most difficult listen. Their sound is as abrasive as rusted steel wool, with little melody or groove, and Gina D'Orio's shrill voice shrieks about anarchist politics like little rascal Spanky frolicking in a bathtub of sulfuric acid. Meanwhile, Patric C sets the $2 drum machine to crank out 160 bpms while sampled guitars thrash along with more nasty fuzz than a platoon full of marine mustaches. It's precisely the over- the- top nature of the assault that makes these guys fun.

Like Napalm Death, say, you can throw a minute- long bit on to a mix tape for a little pumped-up humor, and the occasional track blaring in the car is a scream. But when it comes to longevity and repeated listening, there ain't much to latch on to. The tracks that'll last are the funkier ones, like the slamming "The Shit You Dig" and the slow- burning "Dirt." With thick, menacing grooves wrapped in layer upon layer of distortion, these tracks call to mind the power of a Germanic Public Enemy taken to the nth degree. Here, the music seems like an extension of something profound and not just a bored punk's diversion, and the revolution ends up seeming like a hell of a lot more fun.

-Mark Richard-San