tempobet yeni adresi

EN NL
like this 12 inch review

11/11/2023 : THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX - PIAS40

THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX

PIAS40

Music12 inch
EBMElectro RockElectro WaveElectropunk

[80/100]   

PIAS
11/11/2023, Kurt INGELS

EN

As a part of the Play It Again Sam! (or PIAS for short) 40 years anniversary series, comes a release from a band that is still alive and kicking in 2023, The Cassandra Complex, although the band around singer Rodney Orpheus left its mark in the second half of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s on the PIAS label. While Leeds was declared the gothic rock capital of the UK in the 80s, one Rodney Orpheus, actually an Irishman by birth, decided to combine that goth sound with electronics and thus create an electro wave, moving on to try an even more aggressive electro rock sound later.

Between 1987 and 1993 they delivered 7 albums, one every year, on the label and of course a number of singles. Some of them gave them name and fame. For example, the hit “One Millionth Happy Costumer” became a most requested track at many dark dance parties and even in 2023, you can sometimes still hear it blasting from the speakers. But The Cassandra Complex was of course more than that one, hypnotic and dragging song. Each album contained a hit or two and these songs are present here on this anniversary vinyl from the PIAS40 series.

I am talking about the electro rock of “War Against Sleep”, the wave rock or electro wave, if you like, the beautiful “Nightfall: Over EC” which you have probably already danced to at better alternative parties. The song became especially popular in the 1990s (it was originally included on the 1990 album “Cyberpunx”), as it was featured on many German compilation albums in those years.

The fact that The Cassandra Complex also had a more poppy side is illustrated with the barbed pop of “What Can I Do For You” and with “(In Search Of) a Penny Century” The Cassandra Complex proves that you can even play an electro wave ballad and still can be taken seriously. Believe me, it wasn't and isn't managed by many but The Cassandra Complex got away with it pretty well on the 1989 album “Satan, Bugs Bunny, And Me…”. Time to dig it up from my collection again!

The group was also never afraid of any surrealism. With “Give Me What I Need” from their last PIAS album “Sex And Death” (1993), the group was heavily influenced by the industrial and electro rock sound that was initiated by bands like NIN but also closer to home in those years was professed by acts such as Cat Rapes Dogs, KMFDM or Die Krupps. The Cassandra Complex should and could not stay behind.

With this collection of six very carefully chosen songs, even though “Moscow Idahow” is not there (while still a hit), PIAS once again presents a very enjoyable vinyl that you can make your own, for nostalgic reasons, but can also make new fans of a group who still regularly tour through alternative Europe. You don't even need a record player because you can also purchase everything from this series digitally in high quality via the PIAS website, although Dark Entries recommends the vinyl of course!

Kurt INGELS
11/11/2023


NL

U kan de Nederlanstalige versie van deze review HIER nalezen bij onze collega's van Dark Entries Magazine!

Kurt INGELS
11/11/2023


 

Next reviews
SKINNY PUPPY • PIAS 40
THE NEON JUDGEMENT • Blue Screens 1995 -2009
BHPL • II
PARTIKUL • Having Gone
ENZO KREFT - DARK MINIMAL PROJECT - CAUSENATION • @B52 Music Club Eernegem
AMPHI FESTIVAL 2023 • A second opinion...
AMPHI FESTIVAL 2023 • Thunder in Cologne
ENZO KREFT • Shelter
DER KLINKE • Facing Fate
2ND FACE • utOpium

 

Same genre: EBM
NERO/GRIS • Silenci
BHPL • NB86 / MC25
KRIEG-B • War Drums' Resonance
BHPL • Our Love Can Destroy The World
FRONTLINE ASSEMBLY • Mechviruses
ORANGE SECTOR • Feuer & Flamme
ENZO KREFT • Hey Mr Dictator
AKALOTZ • Angry Body Machine
YOUR ENEMY • Broken Toys
DARKVOLT • Electric Angel

 

Same genre: ELECTRO ROCK
LUC VAN ACKER • It's Been A While (Single)
THE NEON JUDGEMENT • Blue Screens 1995 -2009
KMFDM • Hyena
DIRK DA DAVO • King Of Fools
TECHNOLORGY • Carnivore
FUTURE PILOT AKA • Orkestra Digitalis
THE BLACKHEART ORCHESTRA • Mesmeranto
YATES AND YOUNG • Splinters Ep
NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS • Ghosteen (Ghosteen/Bad Seed Ltd.)
I AM A ROCKETSHIP • Mind Grafitti

 

Same genre: ELECTRO WAVE
DIRK DA DAVO • Running Up The Hilside (3 track single)
GAVIN FRIDAY • Live at 404 / De Vooruit - Ghent - 01/04.2025
CLAN OF XYMOX • Exodus
LUSIFER'S AID • Take It From Here
XTORT • Zwart
STAATSEINDE • De Nieuwe Golf
THE WEATHERMEN • PIAS 40
STAATSEINDE • Staatseinde live @Kinky Star - 14 mei 2022
FRAGRANCE • Salt Water
NUOVO TESTAMENTO • New Earth

 

Same genre: ELECTROPUNK
ARBEID ADELT! • Herrie
NEL & JP • Desinterersse
NEL & JP • Zelfbeeld van Denaldie
IMPLANT • Phantom Pain
BLUTENGEL • UN:GOTT
HATCHLING • Alpha
FOXXXY MULDER • Heretic
DEF NEON • Def Neon
GRAUSAME TOCHTER • Vagina Dentata
LAST AVENUE • Integration Protocol

Music reviews

09
10
NERO/GRIS
Silenci
07
10
SUBATOMIC STRANGERS
Resuwrecked
01
10
BLOKKONTROLL
I-II-III
28
09
SUNSHINE BLIND
Scarred but Fearless
27
09
DARK MINIMAL PROJECT
Pleasure Is A Sin
26
09
PROMENADE CINEMA
Afterlife

NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

NEWS

14
10
43 years of “Wahre Arbeit, Wahrer Lohn” by Die Krupps: A Blueprint for Industrial Resistance
09
10
Baby Turns Blue and 43 today!
03
10
BIMFEST XXIII – 2026 - Full Line-Up Announced!
28
09
De Delvers announces third full-lenght album 'Zwarte Siroop'
27
09
CURSE MACKEY Unveils ‘Imaginary Enemies’, A Darkwave Descent Into Grief & Revelation
25
09
Today, exactly 38 years ago The Klinik released 'Plague'!

Concert reviews

17
08
KRAFTWERK
Royal Palace Open Air - Brussels - August 14 2025
22
04
GAVIN FRIDAY
Live at 404 / De Vooruit - Ghent - 01/04.2025
28
11
BELGIAN ELECTROWAVE IS NOT DEAD 3
Belgian ElectroWave Is Not Dead 3

GET A COPY OF OUR MAGAZINE
SEND TO YOUR HOME

INTERVIEWS

27
09
CORPUS DELICTI
''All is quiet, the motion's cold. I face the wind as I'm taking the road.''
18
09
WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW
This album isn’t about bashing religion and faith. That would be a pretty cheap trick.
17
09
ZWAREMACHINE
We were able to secure the support slot for Front 242. Everything was looking positive until Bas’s cancer reemerged and there were complications.
27
08
BEAUTIFUL FREAKIN' WEIRDO
An Interview With UK Industrial Metal Act, Beautiful Freakin' Weirdo
29
07
EX-VOTO
“Decisions. In a modern time. Transmissions. From the inner mind.“

PHOTOS

21
09
KRUPPS
Kulttempel Oberhausen
12
09
ULTRA SUNN
De Casino St Niklaas
12
09
ULTRA SUNN
De Casino St Niklaas
08
09
AUX ANIMAUX SUPPORT SHE PAST AWAY
Kulttempel Oberhausen
07
09
SHE PAST AWAY
Kulttempel Oberhausen
17
08
NEW MODEL ARMY
Summerkultur Dinslaken
23
07
DUCTAPE
Amphi Festival Keulen

ADVERTISE
IN PEEK-A-BOO

VIDEO CLIPS

17
10
ZANIAS
Unseen (Official Video)
16
10
DOPE
Blood Money
15
10
SOFT CELL
Martin (The Hacker 2025 Remix)
14
10
DARK MINIMAL PROJECT
Schlafen !
13
10
PEAK FLOW
Don't Die In Your Sleep (Remix)
13
10
CRASH COURSE IN SCIENCE
Flying Turns (Live @ BIM 2009)
12
10
COCTEAU TWINS
Hazel