While they’re easily one of the bigger acts currently operating in the European EBM / electro-industrial scene, German duo Haujobb (aka Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic) have been fairly quiet since 2003’s ‘Vertical Theory’ album, though Myer has remained active during the interim under his Architect and Destroid aliases and as a member of Swedish band Covenant. Eight years on, this eight track EP ‘Dead Market’s offers up the first single from Haujobb’s forthcoming ‘New World March’ album, and collects two new tracks from the duo alongside reworkings of the title track from The Horrorist, Nomenklatur, Exes, Absolute Body Control and Mute Records engineer Paul Kendall. In many senses, in its original album mix form ‘Dead Market’s comes across as a heavier, more steel-plated cousin to the sorts of stark EBM-centred synthscapes Depeche Mode were exploring circa ‘Black Celebration’, with Myer’s imperious treated vocals floating over a throbbing backdrop of brooding downbeat rhythms and sub-bass, only to suddenly explode into a chorus section of bright, atonal Euro-pop synths.
While it’s certainly suitably moody stuff, there’s sense that things never really quite ignite, and B-side ‘Letting The Demons Sleep’ easily represents the more interesting half of the equation here, shifting from a grandiose swirl of cinematic symphonic synth arrangements into rumbling factory-line electro as Susanne Thiele’s backing vocals flit against grinding metallic tones and clicking 808 snares. In terms of the numerous remixes of ‘Dead Market’, they prove to be a fairly disappointing bunch, chiefly because most of the remixers don’t take any real risks with the source material. Indeed, the most interesting reworking here comes from Nomenklatur, who reshapes ‘Dead Market’s into a murderous slice of dark, throbbing EBM-techno that’s pretty much the one explosive dancefloor moment on offer here.
Chris Downton
