It is a real pleasure to listen again to the two members of CHMCL STR8JCKT (Baron VonScnhell and Ian Omega) who have joined forces with Tufty Hacka (Biohacker), Mistress Misha and Traece in Handsome Abominations, a rather recent project, born in 2020. With Embrace The Condemnation, their first LP, the quintet takes the listener into a strange and debauched universe, filled with eroticism and lust. Released on June 8, 2021, on Cleopatra Records label, Embrace The Condemnation is available in both compact disc and digital formats.
Eroticism, domination and lust feed the musical discourse of Handsome Abominations, in which fans of industrial music will be able to detect the influence of bands like The Revolting Cocks or Lords of Acid. An exquisitely flavored mix that gets to the heart of the matter from the very first seconds. “Handsome Abominations” opens the album with a woman’s moans of pleasure that are present until the end of the track. The synthesizers bubble, the voices are saturated and granular, the drums pound a sober but effective rhythm. “Slave,” offers us a dive full of fantasies in the heart of the world of dominatrixes. The pace of the track is slower, more lascivious and punctuated by a few scathing lashes. “1 for the Weasel” is a pleasant surprise with its alternating rhythmic patterns, one inspired by punk, the other by shuffle and its very evocative gunshot sounds. The fourth track is none other than a cover of FGTH’s “Relax,” a grittier and more energetic version that suits the overall tone of the album. With “Desiccant,” verses and choruses alternate between groovy rhythms and fat metal sounds. A very successful contrast. The quintet offers us a second cover with “Let It Whip,” a track composed by The Dazz Band. To finish the album in beauty, the eighth track offers a remix of the song “Slave” made by Missing in STARS.
With its universe that titillates the imagination, its subtle synthesizer parts, its great voices and its gut-wrenching rhythms, the first album of Handsome Abomination, Embrace The Condemnation, has everything to delight fans of My Life With The Trill Kill Kult and KMFDM as well as music lovers eager to discover atypical musical universes.
