seven

injury

injury (1999)
alan · February 15, 2000

Well, after hearing several tracks on various compilations, I finally looked into the dark electro stylings of Croatia natives Danijel Levatic and Jurica Majnaric.

Suprisingly enough, I was quite impressed with this self-released project that raises questions to why this artist hasn't got signed yet. The cd is divided between eight tracks by Injury themselves and eleven remixes by artist such as Funker Vogt, Decoded Feedback, Aghast View, Pulse Legion, Dead Jump, Frontrunner, Cable Bends Steel, Trylock, Drunkness, and Strategy.

"Mass Murder in the Land of Terror" seems to be the popular mix on this cd, with seven uniquely different takes on the track including the original. Cable Bends Steel's mix of the track is simply the best, and as far as I'm concerned, cannot be touched. It uses hypnotic trance progressions, intertwined with very attractive phases and loops, pacing with subtle drum'n'bass elements. This one's definitely for the floor. Nice vocal interpretation is conceived as well, better than the original voxx.

Cable Bends Steel takes on "God of Fire" also is the next strongest track on this cd. Keeping with much of the same hypnotic trance drum'n'bass programming, but with more aggressiveness. Again, nice voxx re-interpretation. The third strongest mix would lie with Funker Vogt's idealistic "Mass Murder in the Land of Terror." Very much in the flavor of what they do best, almost sounding completely like a Funker track with the exception of the vocals. Very nice for the club floor as well. Decoded Feedback wins on the fourth and gives a nice solid electro danceable mix of "god of fire."

As for the rest of the album, Danijel Levatic pulls us into very simplistic, but attractively dark soundscapes that create very nice visuals. Again I interpret this release as dealing with the psychotic mind of a killer or madman trying to escape his own insanity that surrounds him. It's nice to see another interpretation of this theme, that never grows old.

"On the other side", "intro (the story of my life)", and "destruction" are my favorites on this release. Very atmospheric meanderings and trancelike strings are created throughout. As far as I'm concerned, Danijel should continue in this direction. As for the vocals, they might need a little work. They don't bother me on "god of fire" so much, but on the other tracks they simply stand out wrong. Possibly using a different effect or pitch shift would help them work better, emphasizing the songs a little better. This would be my biggest complaint, other than that this is still a very nice self-released package that labels should look into.