The Kovenant started out as a black metal band from Norway but by the time they reached this their fourth album, the band had evolved into an industrial metal group that had little resemblance to what had begun this project.
Metal Mind Productions gives you a chance to hear this transformation as they have re-issued SETI and the prior two on special edition disc that are limited to 2000 copies. This way you can decide if the ugly caterpillar became the beautiful butterfly or if it was more like Dr. Jekyll turning into Mr. Hyde!
I would have to say it is more of the later. Listening to their earlier release Nexus Polaris and what they have become two albums later, I have to wonder what kind of narcotics were available at the time as they take a very good sounding band and turn them into a virtual wasteland of electronic drudgery that sounds like a cross between Marilyn Manson and Devo.
They almost turn their backs on the metal that is at the heart of where they came from. While this is fine if that is what they want to do but it certainly is not what the core fans want. There are brief flashes throughout the disc where they turn it up a few notches but overall this is one that gets very boring quickly. Fans of Manson or the Revolting Cocks will find this one more to their liking but still The Covenant does not grab you like either of those bands can.
I did find myself drawn to the song "Stillborn Universe" but that is mostly due to the fact that this is more of a straight forward piece of metal compared to the rest of the disc. Other than that, this one was just a little on the mundane side for me.
This is also one of those cases where bonus material should have been left where it came from. This one includes two unreleased songs and neither should have seen the light of day. In fact, what they do to Metallica's "The Memory Remains" is really a travesty!
Do yourself a favor and check out this band, just do so a couple of albums before this one.
Track listing:
1. Cybertrash
2. Planet Of The Apes
3. Star By Star
4. Via Negativa
5. Stillborn Universe
6. Acid Theater
7. The Perfect End
8. Neon
9. Keepers Of The Garden
10. Pantomime
11. Hollow Earth
12. Industrial Twilight
Bonus Tracks
13. Subtopia
14. The Memory Remains
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