Faust Vs. Dalek Derbe Respect, Alder

Imagine What we Started kicks off the record with three and a half minutes of ambient droning. It's not particularly pretty, but moody, and when the distorted busy percussion kicks in the song really takes off. The drums battle against the swirling howls, string samples float in and out occasionally; when played loud the effect is breathtaking, like a drum kit caught in a hurricane. The percussion gradually winds down and becomes hungry for now. Dalek (a.k.a. Will Brooks) enters and raps somewhere in the distance and the drums tumble and a bass riff rolls about. Brook's words flow preacher-like behind the din and the whole effect is quite something.

The above two tracks are an outstanding opening to the record. Unfortunately it's a high watermark that the two 'duelling' bands can't keep up throughout the whole record. The emphasis throughout is on a strong sense of menace, the unsettling ambience that beings with imagine what we started continues throughout. The two bands collaborating here have painted a unique and impressive landscape; a German Industrial sound stripped of metal guitars or thick drums that dominate much of the genre, leaving just wailing, droning and painfully intrusive ambient sounds. The problem is they seem short on ideas of what actually to do with this backdrop.

The combination of Dalek's vocals, the drum-kit high in the mix, and unsettling noises zipping about all over the place is essentially all there is to most of the record. There is nothing particularly wrong with any one track, but as the previous track was quite similar, and the next track continues the trend, it seems less impressive. Dead Lies and Bullets need violence are the main offenders; at eight and a half minutes the tracks are far too long considering they are essentially the same as the opener, only with more intrusive swirly noises and a few shouted lyrics. The latter possibly features a deeper message in the lyric, but the swirling drill being thrown around the mix makes it hard to focus on anything Brooks says. In fact the only lyric on the whole record that really sticks out in my mind is 'tattered writing on a tattered agey page', and one suspects that's only due to it being so rubbish.

The record does end on a high note however, with t-electronique, undoubtedly the highlight of the record. The most song-like track, it's the same arrangement again (the drums are almost identical to Imagine what we Started), but the vocals are more prominent, and the ambience contained and even carrying the tune on the chorus. The track is a wonderfully claustrophobic slice of paranoid industrial hip-hop, and easily stands head and shoulders above every track that came before it. One might suspect the rest of the record is based around t-electronique, as the lyrics pop up on several other earlier tracks in fragments, and nothing sounds as complete as this.

Derbe Respect, Alder is a curious record. If you like big scary noises with a bit of rap, then check it out. If not, try and get hold of t-electronique anyway, and maybe you'll soon be a convert.