Review: Sex Death Religion – 'This House Is Haunted'

SEX DEATH RELIGION
'This House Is Haunted'
TWO GODS RECORDS

Horror-obsessed edm / ebm outfit Sex Death Religion return with their latest EP on Two Gods Records. Continuing to hone their psychedelic dance music influenced by the likes of Lords Of Acid, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, and EMF, 'This House Is Haunted' sees the Canadian act take things up a notch with six new tracks of demented dance fodder.

The 'Intro' that kicks the EP off is a great blend of near witch house electronics framing a sinister vocal sample that gets things off to an ominous start. The main body of tracks though do a 180 turn instantaneously with the bouncy wubbing style of edm creating a fun counterpoint to the continued use of horror samples. Tracks such as 'Terror In The House', 'Cannibals', and 'Hell Bound' in particular really exemplify the continuing development of the SDR style balancing out sheer craziness with actual dance credibility.

The only real low point is in the somewhat lacklustre cover of 'Sweet Dreams'. While technically a different take on the oft-covered original, it doesn't have the hooks of the previous songs and the vocal delivery sounds unsure.

This is a nice development from the 'Murder Motel' single last year, and while there are some genuinely fun tracks, there is still some work to be done. However, SDR's own unique style is definitely taking on it's own shape and it would be interesting to see where a full-length album would take them musically and conceptually as well.  

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Review: Sex Death Religion – 'Murder Motel'

SEX DEATH RELIGION
'Murder Motel'
TWO GODS RECORDS

Blending horror and edm / ebm, Canadian outfit Sex Death Religion walk the spiritual path of acts such as Lords Of Acid, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, and EMF. Delightfully demented and infectious, SDR mark their first release on Martin Bowes' Two Gods label with 'Murder Motel', an unashamed dance orientated instrumental track with its tongue firmly in its cheek.

The title track is a great blend of wub-wubbing bass, steady dance beats and the kind of samples you'd expect in old school Thrill Kill Kult tracks. The 'Deepnasty' version of the song follows on, further delving into that manic TKK meets Skrillex territory, while the remixes from Ympektid and The Associate explore a harder and then a more minimalist imagining of the original respectively.

In terms of production this is a nice straight-forward presentation that has a little bit of that early 90s acid house feel to it, but with a more modern, digital execution. It maintains a live performance presence throughout and as such keeps the energy high throughout.

This will not be everyone's cup of tea. It's edm and dubstep influences might be outright anathema to hardened industrial ears. However it is fun and annoyingly catchy, and would easily mix into a set of acid influenced electronics with ease. There's a long way to go before we can say SDR are the next Thrill Kill Kult, but this is a good step in the right direction.  

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