Dissecting Table — Industrial Document 1988/91
I don't understand the bizarre choice of releasing such juicy material as wav files on a CD-rom, which is only playable on a computer. I admit I was hugely put off by this format, and that this negatively influenced my judgement.
Anyway, first CD-r consists in a brutal live assault recorded in 1988 at a venue called Explosion, supposedly in Japan. The sound is pristine clear and absolutely overwhelming. Classic industrial percussions by Ruins' headmaster Tatsuya Yoshida carry the weight of Tsuji's nasty metal-ish vocals and his totally wrecked yet extremely accurate and controlled electronics mayhem.
Dissecting Table's tracks from this period are perfectly structured and easily recognizable, and some of them are industrial classics like the anthemic "I Get My Slogan". I can't absolutely complain about the quality of this material: the recording is excellent and the live vibe is kept untouched. As already mentioned, even while being overwhelmingly aggressive, Dissecting Table are at their best here, and things never get messy. The songs are precise and almost mathematic, and all elements (even the most noisy ones) are perfectly put in their place. This "Performance At Explosion" is the quintessence of primal industrial, and it still sounds fresh and kicks ass after twenty-four years.
Second disc was recorded at legendary club 20000V in Koenji, Tokyo, in 1991, and it's more of the same, excellent industrial music. The sound quality is a little bit more dirty than on Disc 1, but it's still an excellent document, maybe even more brutal and noisy than the first one. The energy and punch of Dissecting Table is undeniable, and this stuff can't disappoint fans of old school industrial.
In conclusion I think that the material included in this double CD-romset is absolutely worth the purchase but that the odd choice of format (albeit being very "nineties") makes my teeth cringe. It's just annoying to not be able to listen to an album on my stereo if not after a couple of time consuming digital transfers. For fans of primitive industrial music, industrial rock and Tetsuo :The Iron Man.