
Genetic Transmission - Genetic Transmission [Zoharum - 2016]Genetic Transmission have been active for 20 years, issuing a wealth of material over their career, in fact they put a new album out only last year. They straddle the industrial and power electronics genre’s and yet, I never felt they got the recognition they deserved. And issuing this album in an edition of 200 units won’t promote their standing any time soon either. This, the first in a series of reissues, is their self titled debut album from 1997 and is released by the excellent label Zoharum. Spanning 9 tracks and coming in at just over an hour, it has been remastered and enriched by Tomasz Twardawa (Genetic Transmission). This still sounds powerful and challenging. There’s something quite spectacular about the early un-computer aided industrial music that will always find fascination for me. The level of experimentation generally and depth and quality of sound are exquisite.
Industrial music for me should challenge, it should hurt occasionally and it should unnerve. As a genre it was never meant to be a walk in the park. Genetic Transmission hits all these points and yet it still can be a walk in the park sometimes – just a reasonably unpleasant, unlit and slightly frightening walk.
Genetic Transmission is a wonderful journey into what I would consider the second wave of the industrial world and is the perfect platform to discover more of this projects historic material. This is of its time, but by no means dated. There is industrial / electronic music being made now that doesn’t have the subtly yet occasionally brutal feel to it.
I think my only other complaint about this re-issue is the lack of additional material. Putting this with the bands first release, the cassette only “Vanitas Vanitatum Et Omnia Vanitas” would have been an added bonus.      Adam Skyes
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