NTRSN (Intrusion) is a Belgian duo that took the (underground) world by surprise with the solid official debut CD “People Like Gods” (released on Sigsaly Transmissions in 2010). “Hardlines” is their next opus and in my opinion one of the best releases from the past year (2011). Being again released on Sigsaly Transmissions the Belgians found a home in Europe on the totally to EBM-devoted EK Product.
Pieter Ntrsn and Paul Mommers are totally devoted to the good-old analogue gear and their work simply smells of pure 80s synthesizer analogue spirit. But NTRSN doesn’t sound as an 80s clone rather than an intelligent band transposing the 80s spirit into a modern and efficient EBM sound. In comparison with their debut-CD we now get more fragmented vocal parts. The vocals clearly weren’t the main preoccupation on this album. But when you realize what you get in the place, no one will complain.
“Hardlines” is an exceptional piece of EBM technology. A lot of sounds remind me of pioneers like Front 242 (the “Geography” period) and Cabaret Voltaire. These influences have been meticulously and passionately reworked and transformed into a modern opus. I’ll not compare NTRSM to other formations, but I can easily imagine it will appeal for all those who enjoyed the modernism and efficiency of Millimetric.
Every new song is pure electronic joy and sensation. The repetitive sequences will bring any dancefloor to ecstasy. The splendor of the analogue sounds is magic. So I can’t imagine that this album will leave any real EBM fan unmoved. This is new EBM made with the ideas from the past. It simply makes no sense to mention all the songs from this album and believe me; it’s rather rare to find an album these days where you don’t have to throw away one single song. But according to me there are 2 songs, which simply are the pearls among the jewels. “We Look” and the remix of “Electric Love” by Autodafeh are simply outstanding.
The EBM minimalism of NTRSN also stands for professionalism in sound research and danceable vibes. This is without a shadow of a doubt an album that early pioneers would have liked to compose themselves. It simply says something about the potential of this Belgian formation, which I hope will be no longer one of our countries best-hidden secret! You guys are making real great music and we here at Side-Line can only, but support your work!