reviews

Kill the Buddha! review from fearnet.com

Last year I introduced some of you open-minded souls out there to the work of amazing electronic group Attrition – the twisted creation of UK artist Martin Bowes – whose acclaimed album All Mine Enemys Whispers was one of the most chilling and immersive sonic experiments of that or any year. Now it's time for an entirely new experience, as Attrition has released their new 25th Anniversary live CD – which represents the band's impressive history and hints at new, even more sinister directions in the years to come.

Recorded during the band's 2006-2007 “Tearing Arms From Deities” world tour – which included stops throughout Europe and North America – the nine performances captured on Kill the Buddha! feature a few of the band's earlier works (as a sort of precursor to the Gothic/Darkwave movement, before anyone knew what to call it), but is built primarily of cuts from their more recent release Dante's Kitchen . The tracks were all culled directly from each show's live sound mix, recorded on mini-disk and remastered by Bowes himself. The result is a completely new spin on the band's immersive sonic landscapes, with an injection of immediate energy and spontaneity, fury and beauty, that feels almost monolithic in scope while managing to steer clear of the self-indulgent tendencies than can dog so many bands of the Gothic variety.

For this tour, Bowes shares onstage vocal duties with operatic American singer Laurie Reade, and turns over most of the offbeat electronic instrumentation (his own forte in the studio) to several other keyboardists, including frequent Attrition collaborator Ned Kirby (of the band Stromkern). The result is a layered, haunting, hypnotic collection of genre-defying soundscapes that alternately seduce and frighten.

“Favourite Things” sets the mood with creeping, crawling electronic drones accompanying a spoken tally of the contents on a mad scientist's workbench (“Sulfuric Acid... Sodium Cyanide... rubber gloves... a gurney... restraint gear...”) and gives way to the throbbing analog beat that begins “The Head of Gabriel,” the first in a cluster of Dante's Kitchen tracks and a solid example of the band's latter-day output. Bowes' guttural whisper holds down the low frequencies while Reade's angelic intonations soar, loop and reverberate across the sound field, while the entire mix is punctuated by knob-twiddling synth effects and sprinklings of samples. It's followed by the title track from the same album, a more drum 'n' bass infused version of a similar formula. “Dreamcatcher” adds to the sultry danger with its lurching, Middle Eastern electro-bass rhythm and a cool repetitive spoken line from Bowes.

Next up are two songs from 1997's Etude: “A'dam & Eva” is filled with dark carnival atmosphere, thanks to its waltz-time organ accompaniment to Reade's lyrical material – this time Bowes switches to the background to provide eerie demonic accents. “I Am Eternity” is essentially a shoegazing trip-hop number – albeit with more evil intensity than, say, Portishead – and features a seriously catchy keyboard arpeggio line. Then it's ahead to Dante again with “Two Gods,” propelled mainly by Bowes' dark murmurings and a groaning bass line, surrounded by a swarm of electronic insect buzzing.

“The Mercy Machine” (from The Hidden Agenda ) is a more hard-driving and dance-friendly piece, with deep, bouncy bass, more pronounced percussion and a dreamy, melancholy vocal quality that demonstrates just how much influence Bowes has lent to the whole Darkwave thing. “The Long Hall” is another up-tempo piece with a jungle-esque rhythm loop, which builds momentum to a point, plateaus in trance mode for a while, then kicks in more frenetic beats to an orgasmic, breathless climax.

For a fun closer, “November 18, 2006” is taken from a live tribute to Martin, with Reade crooning a very sultry “Happy Birthday,” but the whole event is turned slightly creepy by a deep synth drone in the background. Think of it as a sexy alien party for the damned... and now that I think of it, that's a perfect description of the Attrition experience.

Though not for all tastes, Attrition has managed to secure a solid niche audience for a quarter-century, all the while resisting categorization despite recognizable elements of early industrial, dark ambient and trance. Come to think of it, Martin Bowes has probably influenced most, if not all, of those genres himself. There's a damn good reason why this group is still around, and this CD is a cool way to find out.

by Gregory Burkart

Kill the Buddha! review from Musictap.net
Attrition has long been a fixture on the Rock circuit but from different angles and forbidden borders.  With a history that forms from their beginnings in 1980, when such music began to find audiences they would have been hard-pressed to find in the ‘70s, to their present moments, where new music by the band is as potent and effective as their earlier catalogues. In 2005 and 2006, this legendary band embarked on an ambitious tour that embraced not only the band's native UK but also countries like Mexico and the US.  Billed as the 25th Anniversary Tour, this collection of performance songs are taken from shows in the US (AZ, FL, ID, KS, NC, and even the hinterlands of IA), and Europe (Antwerp, Belgium; Erlangen, Germany).  Kill the Buddha!: The 25th Anniversary Tour contain songs from their vast catalogue, performed in a continuous vein of music that makes the songs sound like a new offering.  Five of the tracks are found on their Dante's Kitchen (2004) album, with the rest an historical pathway through Attrition's music garden.  Bowes and company do not just rehash the old songs, they reinvent them by infusing them with a familiar but strong dose of energy.  If you're familiar with Attrition, you will thrill with this Projekt release. Attrition is opera, Attrition is experimentation of the highest order, Attrition is in a world all of their own, orbiting some strange star with an atmosphere of fear to breathe.  This Live album is more than a Live album, it is the capture of a rift in a theoretical multiverse, proof that such frightening places exist.  Attrition is extraordinary music for connoisseurs of challenge and this Live album reaffirms Attrition's musical prowess. Kill the Buddha! is essential to your Attrition library. Matt Rowe Kill the Buddha! review from Liar Society Since Kill the Buddha! is a live album commemorating Attrition 's 25th anniversary tour, I feel the need to state my bias upfront: I don't generally like live albums.  At best, they manage to capture exactly what makes a band's live show unique (think Rasputina 's A Radical Recital ) or at least pack-in enough non-album tracks to make it worthwhile to diehard fans (as is the case with The Dresden Dolls ‘ A is For Accident ); unfortunately, most concert records fall far short of both ideals, and offer only muddy, energy-deficient performances that lack the immediacy of having been there in person. And yet, I have to admit that Kill the Buddha! is an excellent example of what the enigmatic Attrition live experience is like.  I've seen Attrition twice (in two different countries, no less) and this album gives a fine indication of what you'd expect out of an Attrition gig: cold electronics, throaty male whispers, and soaring soprano vocals.  As a bonus, the recording is crystal clear; if not for the occasional applause of the appreciative crowd, this could pass for a recording conjured-up in the studio.  Also, I would be completely remiss if I didn't note that the version of “I Am Eternity” featured on this album is absolutely brilliant.  Light a fistful of incense and it's just like being there…

Kill the Buddha! review from Gothtronic.com

In 2005 this eclectic band existed 25 years which was celebrated by a world tour in 2006 and 2007. During this tour various live recordings were made, now selected and compiled on Kill The Buddha.
In stead of recording and issuing a single concert, this disc contains songs that were performed at 9 different concerts. The emphasis is on songs from Dante's Kitchen, but some older compositions appear as well.
Apt listeners will have noticed that the intro called "Invitation" contains a fragment of "Cosmetic citizen" and that "Favourite things" has the album's title in it. "The head of Gabriel" sounds more subdued than the album version, due to the absence of the strident violin.
Laurie Reade's majestic, operatic kind of singing is a nice contrast to the clinical electronic sounds. Martin growls and roars, which makes the sentence 'give me Gabriel's head' appear all the more bloodthirsty. "Dante's kitchen" with its fidgety trip hop rhythm is the most turbulent track on the album, "The long hall" coming in second in that respect.
On "Dreamcatcher" the accent is even more on the vocals, this song wouldn't be half as memorable without. "A'dam & Eva" appeared on the 1986 Third Mind Records compilation Future Tense. This live rendition adds a more modern touch to it, the waltzing character remains.
"I am eternity" was on 1997's Eternity EP, the despairing, classical vocals turn this into a most poignant composition. "Two gods" also benefits from the somewhat more sober execution, keeping the audience's attention can be achieved with  elementary means. "The mercy machine" was on 1993's The Hidden Agenda, Martin's declamation of the word 'kneel' towards the end of the song sounds almost like a curse.
On "The long hall" Laurie Reade again shows her vocals talents, from dreamy and floating to staccato and angular.
Martin wishes everybody good night, but he utters it in a way that might lead to a nightmare. And if you listen to the last two minutes of the album you'll never forget Martin's birthday, and that he is a vegan.

Kill the Buddha! is not only a snapshot of the current state of Attrition, but it can also serve as an appetizer for neophytes. Let's hope many fertile years lay ahead for this distinct band.