Found below (in order of appearance):
-Not Like Them, Metal Hammer Magazine Oct. 1997
-Not Like Them, Industrial-Music page, Nov. 1997
-Misery Loves Co. and Happy?, Rocknet internet magazine
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Metal Hammer review, October 1997
9 out of 10
"At the time of their 1995 eponymous debut
album, Misery Loves Co. were quoted as saying that their goal was
to 'melt together some of the most exciting aspects of hardcore
heavy metal music with the technological insights of the late
1990's.' And the Swedes achieved that aim, because the album went
on to sell over 125,000 copies worldwide, prompting Metal
Hammer to suggest that MLC were writing the blueprint of how
metal should sound in the 90's.
So expectations are considerable for 11 more songs that see the
band continuating their working relationship with producer Thomas
Hedqvist and burrowing deeper and deeper into those
forbidding corners of the human subconscious that are usually
best left untouched. 'Not Like Them' is as dark as a pitch, a
notch heavier than the debut and a few degrees less mechanically
orientated.
Lyrically it's depressing and downright challenging. No, don't
expect Misery Loves Co. to serve it all up for you on a plate
with anything quite so obvious as the last LP's opener Kiss Your
Boots, but do expect them to maintain their already ridiculously
high standards.
This time, Misery greet us with 'It's all yours'. Featureing a
comparatively muted hookline that's cloaked by swathes of gloomy
guitars, it only pops its head up from the shadows after several
plays.
Guitarist/Programmer Örjan Örnkloo conjures up a storm on 'A
Million Lies' and 'Complicated Game' knotting together runs of
gnarled, twisted fretboard notes into a panorama of bleak
simplicity, while vocalist Patrik Wirén just gets on with
venting his spleen. Then, just as you think it can get no more
extreme, up pops 'Taste It (Imaginary Gun)' with a riff so darned
eveil, it'll probably have to be exorcised before it's taken on
tour.
But before foolishly dismissing MLC as shallow or
one-dimensional, try 'Deny Everything', a crawling, lurching
monstrosity that demonstates a mastery of atmospherics and
gut-wrenching heaviness. And just to prove it wasn't a fluke,
Misery unleash another pair of slowburners in 'Them Nails' and
'Infected'. Then it's samples a-go-go for the run-in of 'Feed the
Creep', a tune more suited to the style of the first album, and
the unbelievably sombre 'Not the Only One', which starts off like
a funeral march and gradually builds into a real instrumental
steamroller, flattening everything in its path with it's
magnificently de-tuned inertia.
They've done it again."
-Dave Ling
Industrial-Music homepage review of "Not Like Them"
Misery Loves Co. is a Swedish rock/industrial project with guttural vocals and screaming guitars juxtaposed against thundering drums and backing synths. This duo’s new CD, Not Like Them is a combination of sounds caught somewhere between hard metal and accessible, rock orientated industrial. It’s All Yours takes pulsing drums and places them behind a wall of guitars (ranging from moody to aggressive) and raw vocals. Prove Me Wrong is a ballad type song with some wet sequences half hidden behind the acoustical guitar and echoing vocals. Another slower song, Complicated Game, has a strong electronic feel to it with the throbbing synth lines and minimal guitar. This is also the best track to hear Patrik’s vocal range, as it goes from soft in the verses to downright hard and angry in the chorus. More along the lines of death metal, Taste It (Imaginary Gun) is a roughed up piece with enraged vocals and screaming guitars. The remainder of the tracks range from slower rock pieces to harsher metal pieces, but nothing really stands out as amazing. Overall, Not Like Them is more along the lines of alternative metal with a dash of industrial tossed in for good measure. While it’s not really my thing, there are some redeeming qualities about their compositions that even an electro music lover could appreciate.
Metal Review:
Misery Loves Co. (Rocknet review)
"Misery Loves Co."
"Happy?"
Greetings. This is a dual pack review. First, I'll discuss the
self-titled Earache release by Misery Loves Co. Then I'll talk
about the new Misery Loves Co. enhanced CD release
"Happy?."
Misery Loves Co. is a Swedish Industrial/Death/Pop Metal band.
The band's style is extremely progressive and experimental in
nature. Their sound is a subtle mix of beauty and brutality;
angst and art; melody and maelstrom. No, Misery Loves Co. is not
another Nine Inch Nails knock-off...they're better than NIN.
That's a fact. Their self-titled album was released on Earache
Records in 1995 (applause). My two favorite tracks are "My
Mind Still Speaks" and "Happy?." "My Mind
Still Speaks" is an extreme fusion of Industrial, Death
Metal, and brutal melody. One line states, "Allegiance, to
no one else but me." Another portion of the song says,
"More chaos, destroying order, to create, violence."
This song KICKS! It's amazing.
"Happy?" is a slow, but heavy, lilting
powerballad-style track. The chorus states "I'm happy in my
misery." This band is incredible.
With the release of their latest EP, "Happy?," Misery
Loves Co. has again progressed into new territory...the realm of
the PC. The CD is enhanced, which means a portion of the CD can
be played on your computer's CD-ROM player and the rest can be
played on your CD audio player. The computer portion of this disc
includes biographical information on Misery Loves Co. (on the
band and it's members), the un-cut video to "My Mind Still
Speaks," and several other cool little goodies. Don't worry;
this CD is the hybrid format, it can run on either an IBM
compatible computer, or a Macinslosh (Macintosh). One warning;
track 1 of the disc is the PC track and cannot be played on the
audio CD player (if you do, you will hear a nasty loud squelching
sound). Track two is the audio portion of the CD. This includes
such killer tracks as "Happy?," "Strain of
Frustration" (which is a new track) and several live cuts. I
have only one complaint - I wish they would have included a live
version of "My Mind Still Speaks."
The "Happy?" CD contains over 40 minutes of music, and
has a special low-cost EP price. Very cool.
I recommend that both of these CDs be purchased by all
progressive Metal fans who are into Industrial, Death, and/or
just Metal in general.
Related Bands: Candiru, Dead World, Fear Factory, Purge, Hypocrisy, Pyogenesis, Paradise Lost, Malformed Earthborn, Nine Inch Nails, Filter, Celestial Season, Soulstorm, Godflesh, Scorn, Anathema, Carpathian Full Moon, Holy Gang, Circle Of Dust, Frontline Assembly, Machine Head, etc. Keep the Faith, and the Aggression.
-Bill Vogel III }