Search - Various :: Diva X Machina 2

Sisters are doing it for themselves on Diva X Machina 2, the COP International label's second compilation of female-fronted industrial-dance bands. Much like the first disc, this one attempts to push the male-dominated genre of industrial against a wall, whisper sweet nothings in its ear, and then whip, spank, and bite it until it whimpers for mercy--and begs for more. Actually, while a good deal of the material here could loosely be called "fetish music," there's too much quality and variety to easily pigeonhole the disc: 162's "Darkness," a Die Form-like electro track with operatic vocals; Magenta's beautifully melancholy "One Mind"; the scorching Eros of Luxt's "Spite" and Evulva's "Dive"; and the otherworldly landscape of Kirlian Camera's "Your Face in the Sun." There are some duds (the KMFDM-meets-Red Hot Chili Peppers silliness of Hanzel & Gretyl's "Pleiadian Agenda," the '80s-metal-guitar stylings of Tapping the Vein's "Butterfly"), but fortunately they don't kill the mood. So light those candles, slip on that latex, and give this disc a listen: anger, eroticism, sarcasm, and intelligence have never hurt so good. --Steve Landau