Year: 2024
Label: Steinklang Industries

Now that’s a hefty name for a release. It sort of reminds me of Bal-Sagoth, the “barbarian metal” band of yore who were known for their unwieldy track titles. Or, thematically there’s precious little in common: where Bal-Sagoth drew inspiration from the writings of Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft, Swedish Kontakt Service look to other kind of pulp for theirs.

Namely, a Swedish low brow crime tabloid magazine called Kriminal Journalen. The tape covers are adorned with images and quotes lifted from this infamous cult magazine, which focused on all kinds of sensationalist criminal sleaze. If it had to do with sex crime, cult crime or some other form of depravity sure to shock middle class Sweden – Kriminal Journalen would cover it.

A fitting thematic framework for nasty old school power electronics, wouldn’t you say? Kontakt Service, behind which is the same guy who also operates Ideal Father and is part of Mourn, whose album we reviewed upon release (here), harks back to the very roots of the genre in dealing with some pretty nasty filth.

Musically, too, Kontakt Service take one back to the roots of the genre. This is vicious, ugly and negative industrial filth not at all unlike primogenitors of the genre such as Sutcliffe Jugend. This also means that Kontakt Service isn’t necessarily the most violent, aggressive, abrasive or noisy act out there. No, instead of blaring noise, this tape focuses on brooding, haunting passages of death industrial ambience to balance the nasty electronics. Cacophony is not the order of the day; instead, Kontakt Service keeps things tightly in rein and under control.

So: grinding, churning electronic loops; throbbing, droning analog synths; shrill, high pitched feedback; sadistic, buried vocals that really hammer down the negativity. And, of course, plenty of speech samples to set the context. As mentioned above, it’s all very classic in style.

And good. If you’re into this kind of quintessential, nasty and negative power electronics, you’re sure to dig this tape. It’s powerfully atmospheric, excessively negative, crudely sleazy and simply vicious. It might not break any new ground within power electronics, but it displays an innate understanding of how to do it right.

Kontakt Service doesn’t have an online presence, but check the album on Steinklang’s Bandcamp