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Title: Abattoir EP
Artist: X Marks the Pedwalk
Genre: Electronic
Release Date: 24th July 2009
Label: Infacted Records



Album Review

Packed with 11 tracks, the re-release of X MARKS THE PEDWALK’s ‘Abattoir’ is so far the finest release in the EBM Cult Classics series of Infacted Records. Once upon a time there was a small recording studio in a small village near the city of Münster, Germany. As far away from Germany’s hotspots of electronic music as you could get, this studio called TGIF nevertheless harboured the spearhead of the country’s Electro scene. And it was, of course, also the home of the studio owner’s main project: X MARKS THE PEDWALK!

In the late 1980s, Andre Schmechta aka Sevren Ni-Arb produced electronic music with his partner Jörg Böhme aka Regan Eracs under the moniker SCARECROW. After renaming their brain child to X MARKS THE PEDWALK things took off and especially the single ‘Abattoir’ became a major success which is to this day part of many EBM DJ sets. Originally released in 1990 (12” vinyl) and 1991 (CD) it was already X MARKS THE PEDWALK’s fourth single release, and their international breakthrough. Often praised as Germany’s answer to SKINNY PUPPY, this album-length release shows the qualities of X MARKS THE PEDWALK. The ‘Abattoir’ EP features all songs of the original release and a handful of bonus tracks, which are not just mere fillers. A great package for sure!

‘Abattoir’, in my book still one of the greatest EBM tracks ever, is presented with three different versions, including the rare Razormaid remix and an exclusive extended version by DJ Tonyy. The CD also includes the three songs of the ‘Arbitrary Execution’ single (1989), the compilation-only ‘Interruption’ and the song ‘The Killing Had Begun’, a previously unreleased track, even though there’s a X MARKS THE PEDWALK album of the same name. With this EP you get quantity and quality, and when you listen to all the tracks you can see easily why acts like HAUJOBB, ARMAGEDDON DILDOS, STERIL, EVILS TOY and many others relied on the production skills of Andre Schmechta.

Unfortunately Schmechta, who teamed up with his brother Torsten when Böhme left X MARKS THE PEDWALK, gave up his studio and all his music projects in the late 1990s. The good news is that the Schmechta brothers are back and promised a new X MARKS THE PEDWALK album soon! All we need now is a re-release of ‘Facer’, a song with which X MARKS THE PEDWALK forestalled 2000’s Future Pop trend as early as 1995.


Tracklist

01. Abattoir (Extended Mix)
02. Solitude
03. Abortion
04. Look on this side
05. Interruption
06. Arbitrary Execution
07. Look on this side (The Blood)
08. Dead Fuck
09. Abattoir (Razormaid Remix)
10. The Killing had begun
11. Abattoir (Extended Mix by Tonyy)


Line-up

Andre Schmechta (Sevren Ni-Arb)
Jörg Böhme (Regan Eracs)


Website

http://www.xmtp.de/


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 9.5
Sound: 9
Extras: 9 (bonus tracks)
Total: 9.3 / 10


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