Lately, I’ve somehow been strangely attracted to music that is categorized as ‘black metal’, but instead offers us many mechanical riffs and as much drumming as possible. Last month, The CNK brightened my world, and now the Italian band Thee Maldoror Kollective does its best to create a bit of darkness in my stereo. The nine tracks on New Era Viral Order show a more industrial approach to the style that this band used on their previous albums Ars Magika (1998) and In Saturn Mystique (2000). The band has maintained and further developed a lot of the old keyboard-influences, but it’s mostly the use of these influences that forms the major change in their style. The band has added more samples and a computer voice is introduced (in almost every song). Nevertheless, Thee Maldoror Kollective manages to maintain a true black metal atmosphere within the boundaries of this release. So it’s not a record for the fainthearted, but who is it for then? Honestly, you shouldn’t buy this album if you’re a regular churchgoer, nor should you purchase it if you dislike monotone bass-sounds that pound throughout each individual song.

Influences derived from dark, ambient music become apparent in songs such as “La Flamme Vivant”, whilst “Slaughter Mass 2002” proves that the band listened to Dimmu Borgir’s latest album. It’s pretty hard to compare Thee Maldoror Kollective to any existing band, knowing that the list of aforementioned bands grows longer with such diverse acts as Hocico (Drain-Wound-Cosmosis) and Samael (Xaos DNA Released). It is obvious that this album will draw the attention of dark electro and industrial-influenced black metal fans, but also of those who love satanic music or feel attracted to the occult. One Dutch critic even said that the music on New Era Viral Order is “perfect satanic suicide music”, and that sums it up quite well. However, it might be a good idea for the band to decide what type of audience they’re aiming at. Unfortunately, I received this album in 2003. Otherwise it would have been on my 2002-list for sure!