Church of Industrial Music: Nitzer Ebb - Belief

When I think "classic EBM", this album is one of the first that comes to mind. As with FLA, I didn't get into Nitzer Ebb until I'd been listening to this stuff for some time, despite having heard some stuff I liked since earlier on. I think it was hard to be an industrial fan in the 90's without hearing "Join In The Chant" from the earlier album, That Total Age, somewhere or another.

I know I've mentioned in previous COIM articles that I support a band's right to change their sound and try new things, but occasionally I do tend to prefer the earlier stuff when that happens. Nitzer Ebb is an example of this. I don't hate everything that came after this album, but I don't like it as much. This earlier material tended towards a stripped-down approach, often with very simple melodies and vocals that alternate between almost-monotone chants, hoarse growl-whispers, and aggressive punk-like shouts. I don't mean to downplay the impact of the music or the talent involved, as the simplicity works very well for the style.

Listen to Belief on Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/album/1688816

"Hearts and Minds" opens the album, and is a fine example of what makes it a classic. A simple, but ultra-groovy electronic beat starts things off, soon joined by a similarly simple-yet-awesome bassline. As with most of the album, the instrumentation remains sparse, with a sort of lead synth and occasional synthetic "sting" accents providing minimal melody, joined in similar fashion by Douglas McCarthy's half-chanted vocals. "For Fun" follows in a very similar vein, but perhaps an even cooler bassline, and a little more dynamics to the vocal delivery. Next comes "Control I'm Here", which is perhaps the most well-known song from this release, and I won't deny that it's a classic. Skipping ahead to track 5, "T.W.A." has a slower, more ominous sound, with some cool use of samples. This is followed by another favorite, "Blood Money", which picks the tempo back up, and once again includes a fantastic bassline. The album continues in this dancier vein again, and while the remaining three tracks don't quite make my list of highlights, they certainly aren't bad.

While I don't think you should let my personal preferences keep you from checking out their later stuff, if you're only going to check out one album from them, I do recommend that you make it this one.