…AND OCEANS are dead. Yet, its members continue under the name of HAVOC UNIT. And a change of name is appropriate, for what these creative people deliver on “h.IV+” has nothing to do with …AND OCEANS at all. Who thought that HAVOC UNIT would continue the kind of disco-industrial metal they celebrated under the old name on “Cypher” is terribly wrong.
Gone are the pleasant, danceable melodies and beats. The first track “Vermicide” jumps right in your face with really ugly industrial metal – raw, menacing and evil. A cyber-demonized version of MESHUGGAH or a slower, but heavier version of THE AMENTA – that’s what comes to my mind when listening to HAVOC UNIT these days, with a sound directly from the factories of 21st -century-hell. As the tracklist implies, HAVOC UNIT’s lyrics deal with the perversions of the last decades to batter them relentless back in the face of mankind. And battering is the word that describes their music best – The screamed vocals, the machine-gun riffing and the stomping of the machine-beats hurt and is definitely not for the faint-hearted who seek beautiful melodies. For that matter, even people who seek ANY melody will be disappointed. “h.IV+” is one big rhythm-monster with samples, menacing synths and some slower intermezzi; it is a spirit of wrath; the embodiment of the pits of the human psyche.
And for that, I love it. It is cold, aggressive and inhuman; much like DHG’s “Supervillain Outcast”. There is only one downside: it is a little bit unvaried. If you’d play me a track, I could not say which one it is, only that it is on “h.IV+”. And I wouldn’t listen to it the whole day, for I am one of these people who like a good melody once in a while. But then there is “Ignoratio Elenchi [Reversed Genesis]” to make up for it, which is, simply put, brilliant. That is mostly due to the voice of SOLEFALD’s Cornelius, but not only that, the track has a dreamy and dark atmosphere which gives you goosebumps. It might be a bit unfair to say that this (and only this) track sounds like a SOLEFALD-song (and not only due to Cornelius’ voice), but that’s the way it is… And there also is “Kristallnacht [From Revolution to Reconstruction]”, a soothing piano piece.
All in all, I am positively surprised. No, not really surprised, because I didn’t know what to excpect from HAVOC UNIT now in the first place, only that the name change must have had SOME impact on the music. It is surely interesting to hear HAVOC UNIT explore regions of acoustic brutality other than speed, for brutal it is. A perfect soundtrack for the devil’s abbatoir, a mix of rust and blood.
-Tentakel P.
VITALS:
Release: 2008
Label: Vendlus Records
Avantgenre: Machine Butcher Metal
Duration: 53:37
Origin: Finland
Official site: http://www.h-i-v.fi/
Review online since: 20.04.2008 / 17:22:25
TRACKLIST:
01 – 
[Vermicide]
02 – I. Esus [The Liturgy Of Inhumanity]
03 – When Children Are No Longer Enough [C.oitus O.rgasm C.atholic K.ids]
04 – Generation Genocide [Humanitarian Vivisection]
05 – Viremia [Regime HIV+]
06 – Kyrie Eleison [Totalitarian Libertarianism]
07 – Nihil [Operation Blitzkrieg]
08 – Man Vs. Flesh [Structured Suicide]
09 – Ignoratio Elenchi [Reversed Genesis]
10 – Kill All Nations [The Manual Of Terrorism]
11 – Kristallnacht [From Revolution To Reconstruction]
12 – Klan Korps [Volkssturm & Erregung]
13 – Rape Scene Act I [The Fine Art Of Quality Time]
(Interesting Easter Egg: If Played In WinAmp, The Tracklist Looks Like This)
01 – Allah On Suuri, Mutta Mullah Suurempi
02 – COCK (Coitus Oralis Catholic Kids)
03 – Fucked With A Knife
04 – 0011001101100110000001100110010010100100000110010011010111001001
05 – Www.shemalesandtransvestites.com
06 – The Global Rise Of Religious Violence
07 – Structured Suicide
08 – P. Diddy Vs. Kiddie P. Orn
09 – With Love To All The Pigboys, Ladyboys And Toyboys Out There
10 – United Colors Of Defecation
11 – 1889
12 – Political Propaganda Program
13 – Men’struation
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