After a hiatus of several years Vomito Negro struck back on Out Of Line with the DCD “Skulls & Bones” (2010) and the EP “Slave Nation”. The band now found a new home on the Italian label EK Product, which already released two albums of Gin Devo.
Fall Of An Empire is a very interesting work showing us this legendary Belgian band at its best. The songs are filled with poignant dark atmospheres, giving you the impression to visit a haunted house. Gin Devo’s spooky timbre of voice only reinforces this gloomy atmosphere. But “Fall Of An Empire” remains first of all addicted to dark-electronics. Gin Devo shows all his talent in composing dark ‘Klinik’-al’ sequences, minimal loops and pure EBM elements. The new work sometimes sound as the offspring between the EBM-minimalism of “Errata” (the latest album of Gin Devo), the cold sequences of The Klinik and the typical obscurity of Vomito Negro. This melting pot finally results in a fascinating work featuring a real solid opening part.
The debut songs indeed are simply overwhelming. “Enemy Of The State” and “Factory Child” both are solid tracks, but the best is yet to come with “Power On Demand” and “Machines Of Hate”. The 2nd part of the album is a bit less convincing although revealing a few more cool songs like “Emerging Souls” and the pure into ambient (and instrumental)-like title song.
Vomito Negro remains a unique experience. The vintage dark-electronics are miles away from the current ‘oontz’ fashion trend. Vomito Negro sounds like electronics without compromises and I think that this new work is again showing the good-old Vomito Negro! An album with attitude!
Conclusion: This is a fully accomplished release by one of the few Belgian survivors of the late 80s and 90s dark-electronics. “Fall Of An Empire” would possibly stand for the ‘rise of an old electro-genius’!
Best songs: “Power On Demand”, “Machines Of Hate”, “Factory Child”, “Enemy Of The State”.