EAST SIDE MILITIA (1996) - ALBUM REVIEW

East Side Militia is the second album from American industrial rock group Chemlab, released in 1996. The group’s previous record: 1993’s Burnout at the Hydrogen Bar was a classic piece of industrial rock, doing exactly what was expected of it as an album of that genre. By comparison though, East Side Militia is far more experimental - incorporating different sounds and exploring different track structures. Personally, I find Chemlab’s second outing a much more interesting listen.

As an industrial rock record the album contains many sounds to be expected of the genre: electric guitars, metallic percussion and acidic synths. Lots of samples are used throughout the album to convey narrative and tone. Many other sounds are used though to experiment along the runtime such as drawn out distorted gongs, record scratches and more.

The vocals throughout the album are extremely varied too. There are aggressive vocals, lazy vocals, deranged vocals. Sometimes there’s a distortion filter over the top and sometimes the vocals are clean. Each vocal style suits the track it’s in, and really helps convey the particular mood of that song.

Throughout East Side Militia are also scattered many audio samples; a convention of the industrial genre as a whole. The very first sound of the album is a thirty-one second long sample of nothing but gunfire before a voice can be heard calming the shooting. There are other long samples in other tracks, taken from horror films and the like.

The pacing and dynamics throughout East Side Militia are also quite varied; the album has fast and loud moments, and slow and quiet moments to contrast. As a whole the album begins very energetic with the first track Exile on Mainline, gradually decreasing in intensity reaching the more psychedelic fifth track Lo-Grade Fever. The sixth track Electric Molecular ramps the pace right back up again, and is perhaps even the most energetic song on the album. The fast pace keeps throughout Latex, then the eighth track Pink brings the original album to an ambient close before the remixes.

In my opinion the whole album’s overall pacing is excellent - every shift in tempo feels natural and contributes splendidly.

Many of the songs of the album have great progression throughout and slowly build. The third track Vera Blue (96/69) is one of the longer tracks on the album, and it’s a great example of this gradual building. The track begins more mellow, with a steady beat and a relaxed bass with softer singing from vocalist Jared Louche. As the song enters its second half though, a slightly distant but rough guitar enters, signalling the start of the track’s turn into a louder, brasher track. By the end of the track Jared is screaming and a second screeching guitar is introduced, to bring the song to a dynamic close.

A sort of reverse progression like this can be observed in the second track Jesus Christ Porno Star.

There are also some marvellously executed transitions between tracks on the album - be they sudden and immediate like the transition between Lo-Grade Fever and Electric Molecular, or calmer like that between Jesus Christ Porno Star and Vera Blue (96/69). There is truly an art to track transitions, and East Side Militia has it nailed.

The themes of the album are befitting for an industrial record. East Side Militia explores perfectly dark themes such as addiction and a cynical view of religion. There are senses of nihilism and self-loathing throughout the album, and acceptance of one’s darkness. From a narrative interpretation the album seems to explore the story of a man living in a dreary part of town, describing his own strife and that of the other low-life people he knows there. The place warps the protagonist into accepting what the place is, and what he has become living there.

There also appears to be electricity and chemistry motifs running through the album. It’s an interesting set of metaphors to convey the aforementioned themes, and it gives the album some more identity.

Personally, my favourite song is Pyromance - a sexually charged song featuring plenty of electricity metaphors in the lyrics. In terms of song structure and choice of instrumentation, it’s one of the lesser experimental tracks. However, I find the guitars on it incredibly compelling: they are by far the highlight of the track for me. As for themes and tone, this song feels more steady and relaxed, and could show an aspect of the protagonist’s acceptance of himself and his actions. The protagonist appears to be in a relationship with someone which he knows is wrong; he knows it’s no good as he calls his lover “parasitic” and “poisonous”, but he pursues the relationship anyway. The song has its sinister moments, but the overall tone created by the instrumentation is not so dark.

I should also say a word on Pink. It’s an interesting close to the album before the remixes. It’s a dark ambient piece; spoken word poetry accompanied by a haunting piano, whirring organ-like sounds and no percussion to be heard. It conveys a psychedelic feeling, totally disconnected from the rest of the more grounded album (besides Lo-Grade Fever). It could represent the protagonist’s final acceptance before ultimately destroying himself.

In conclusion, East Side Militia as an industrial record feels familiar but different. The ingredients to make a great industrial album are all present, but Chemlab adds in some extra spice with the more experimental sounds.

The three remixes featured on the album are also enjoyable - each one is unique and worth a listen.

Listen to the album here:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-aZk0R6oj3aSWBxm73TrlKbtjzCU0RVm

USA