Schkeuditzer Kreuz-No Life Left album review. FFO: Dystopian synth crust punk boogie.

 

Schkeuditzer Kreuz-No Life Left album review. FFO: Dystopian synth crust punk boogie.

Kieren who is SK, drops some more gloomy hard beats in his glorious crust punk style. If you had any remote interest in his previous releases for SK, you aren't prepared for this banging release.

Schkeuditzer Kreuz is very broadly a grim electronic/industrial project that has a solid punk influence and his brilliant use of beats/synth/samples is unparalleled. Ain't nothing similar to this project and this album is simply a brilliant classic.

No Redemption gets the fire burning with a sensational sample then gets you in the dark hole with those distorted electropunk beats we love. The grim flow across the album is as solid as we expect and lyrically this release is even darker than the previous. Dead Alive really hits you between the eyes, I mean just check these acidic lyrics:

Dead from the start 
With a head full of lies 
Tore out my heart 
And ripped out my eyes 

Chopped off my hands 
And asked me to feel 
Took both my legs 
And told me to kneel

This track also reminds me of early Ministry and Frontline Assembly, so you get how incredible this track and the album are. Production-wise it sounds more like a live album and is so resplendent in an aggressive format. The structure has to be precise because the beats and sample placement have to be in line, whilst sounding as underground as possible. This album pounds and chips away at your psyche, yes that kind of glorious evil. 

Three Inch Scar is one of the many highlights on this album, I mean listen to that eerie and menacing intro-serious cult horror atmosphere. And that haunting tone simply doesn't let up and the tension is amped up as the song tracks along; this is one of those tracks you need to listen to on quality headphones-the trickery on the whole track is deep and intense. The ending also has some solid noise vibes on it as a bonus. Joy was the first single off this album and is a banger live, It creatively fools you by thinking that it may be a chillout track, but the slow tempo is heavy as hell and the lyrics are magnificent:

Take a hammer to the world 
Unbridled ecstatic destruction
Pull down the roof see the stars 
Smash the walls and breathe 
None left standing 
None unbroken 
Purest joy - Total demolition 

Cut the locks 
Kick in the doors 
Tear it all down 
Douse the lot And watch it fucking burn

If that doesn't inspire you and you cannot feel the punk flame on this track, I think you need new ears. 

Second Life starts with gunshots and arduous beats and is like Discharge crossed with illegal rave techno. The distorted chaotic magnificence and the thick synth cheese on this are phenomenal. The beats are super lively and discordant at the same time, killer samples are in the mix and mega gothy/gravelly vocals set the track off. So much to love about this song: the pace, the mayhem, the off-the-rails effects and the psychotic synth work. SK works to a formula with much variety on each album, little surprises that make you go what the fuck on each release. Ratchet is one of those gems, and probably one of my favourite tracks on this album. The lyrics are astounding and deep in a super-reflective way, for this writer at least:

This spider web 
This fucking circus sideshow
Whatever the fuck this shit is
Come watch me fuck it up though
 I'll put it all out there 
Put my heart on my sleeve
Put my lies on my sleeve 
Don't leave me alone 
Don't fucking touch me 
This mess of lies 
This mess of lies and deceit 
That we call entertainment 
That we call conversation 
This thing that we call friendship 
That we call honesty and love 
This thing we call abuse 
This thing is all and nothing
 How could I sell myself 
Couldn't even give myself away 
Come see the lies
 Come see the hate 
Come see the fear 
Come see the pain 
Just a clockwork toy 
So very easy to wind up 
Just point me click me 
And watch me march away

Compelling lyrics and add to that, the phattest beats and nasty synth and you have a beast of a track. Not sure how he does it, but the dystopian groove on this is insanely addictive. And wild twists and turns, that are only possible from an artist that knows their craft so well. Kudos on that!. Then you have an exhilarating version of Anti Cimex's Victims of a Bomb Raid. This Swedish D-beat classic gets the full SK treatment with the necessary delay/echo amped up and this is blistering as you can expect. Like the original, no prisoners are taken and this works flawlessly as an electropunk version. 


Inside World is the closing track which is like a hallucinogenic acid techno track with also a slight industrial vibe. The background sample is excellent and freakish, and the track is almost minimalistic German techno; however, the layering of effects is way more than that. Nothing about this album is simplistic, except the animalistic aggression contained. Very awe-inspiring way to close out such a strong album.

Whatever Schkeuditzer Kreuz does you know it will be sublime the catalogue is very solid and as always we are anxiously awaiting the next release. Kieren is taking SK to Europe soon and New Zealand in Jan 2024.

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