Interviews
Interview
with Eric Powell
16Volt Interview
by Last Sigh
interview with Eric
Powell and Marc LaCorte
interview
with Eric Powell by Sonic Boom
another
interview with 16volt by Sonic Boom
Interview
with Eric Powell and Marc Lacorte by Jill Grant and Chris Whitley
Interview
with Eric Powell by Gair
Last
Sigh Interview with Eric Powell
Voltage
Magazine 16volt interview
Godsend
interview with Eric Powell
Album
Reviews
Let Down Crush
Review
Another Let
Down Crush Review
Let down
crush review by Gair and MJ Owen
supercoolnothing
review
Supercoolnothign
review by Last Sigh
Concert
Reviews
16volt with 29
Died and IAM
Chaos '95
Haloblack/16 Volt/Virus 23/Bile
16 Volt - LetDownCrush "Somewhere between 'Skin'
and 'Wisdom' lies 'LetDownCrush'. It's energy is everywhere. This disk is
minimalist in it's use of electronics but it still fits into the industrial
class. The song structure is more mature than on the previous two disks and
each song could easily be released as a single . Songs like the brutally-funky
'A Cloth Like Gauze' and adrenaline-laced 'The Cut Collector' have caused
me to listen to this disk endlessly since I got it! 16Volt may just expand
well beyond our little industrial community and gain a much larger audience
with this disk - it's just that good. I for one hope they do. My only complaint
with this disk is that it's way too short.
"(D)
16 Volt -Wisdom(Re-Constriction) : Interesting. The
best way I can describe this band if you haven't already heard it is Skinny
Puppy's Too Dark Park album mixed with songs fromf NIN's Broken, except at
a slower
pace. In fact, I think they use a sample from one of the songs on Too Dark
Park except put it through some effects. This is their first album, and their
second one is called Skin. If you like the sound I described above, I
suggest you get off your ass and get this band! They are one of the leaders
of many guitar-industrial bands right now and deserve to be so! This band
has not been so truly original in any way, it's just that they're damn
good.Highly Recommended.
16 VOLT / RORSCHACH TEST / SCAR TISSUE
The Fenix, Seattle, Washington
April 3, 1997
This was my first experience with the Fenix and I was pleased to discover it’s a decent, if somewhat
small, club right next to the King Dome in downtown Seattle. Arriving at about 9:30, the turnout looked
dismal, but by the time Rorschach Test went on, it was filling in nicely, and 16 Volt had a full (though
not packed) crowd going on.
Up first, though, were Scar Tissue, a two-man project on 21st Circuitry (and featured in the latest IN).
Unfamiliar as I was with their material, this probably wasn’t the best way to experience it. The sound
was not good, with the vocals effected to the point of incomprehensibility, which was fine as they
tended to get buried along with everything else under the overwhelming drums and noisy samples. The
more upbeat numbers worked best, whereas the rest of the material became tedious very quickly and
the cheesy vocal effects didn’t help, either. The blank response from the crowd assembled by that
point pretty much said it all...
Rorschach Test are more of a full-on band, with live guitar and drums, plus no real vocal effects.
Once again, I’m not familiar with most of their work, most of which had a metallic edge without
sounding ‘metal’ at all. These tunes didn’t really work for me, as the vocals tended to get a bit
screechy, but the more mellow songs were surprisingly good and showed a dimension to the band I
wouldn’t have guessed existed. I would have much preferred more selections in this direction, but it
was still a halfway decent set. Whoever was running the strobe must have been drunk, though...
Apparently 16 Volt had canceled their past couple of Seattle shows, so they really had a lot to live up
to with this one. Kicking off with “The Dreams That Rot In Your Heart,” the band quickly got up to
speed and the brilliant mesh of guitars and electronics that Eric Powell & Co. have built three albums
on. The energy really shone through on cuts like “Breed,” “Head of Stone” and “The Cut Collector.”
Two cuts from the second album, Skin, came across particularly well, namely “Perfectly Fake” and
the title track. The band admittedly have a heavier sound live than on disc, but it works, especially with
the newer tracks and the band seemed far more into the show than either of the previous bands, which
helped get the audience moving during the more upbeat songs.
A mixed evening that ended on a good note, with a band that never seems to tire of touring....and it
shows.
[Daniel Hinds]