Raymond Watts has been making industrial music since before most of us were born, and this remix album shows he is not slowing down. The Merciful Night takes a dozen tracks from his recent catalogue and hands them to a crew of fellow travellers. Assemblage 23, Grendel, Republica, Pop Will Eat Itself. The list reads like a who's who of the darker corners of 90s electronic rock.
The originals were already heavy on clanging metal percussion and Watts's theatrical growl. These versions push them in different directions. Tweaker's take on Veni Vidi Vici turns it into something more spacious and paranoid. Grendel makes The Judas Chair faster and more dancefloor ready. The PIG self-remix of Limbo is the most straightforward industrial banger here, all four on the floor kick drum and distorted bass. Not everything lands. Some of the remixes sand off the rough edges that make Watts interesting in the first place.
It comes from Armalyte Industries on CD and in lossless formats. If you liked the original versions of these songs, you will want to hear what other people did with them. If you are new to PIG, start with something else first.
This is for people who still buy industrial records and want to hear familiar tracks twisted by people who know the genre inside out.
