Aftermath is my introduction to Cruciform Injection and I am thoroughly impressed.  Solely judging them based on their name I had passed over their previous releases thinking they were a gothic project, my loss.  Produced by Guido le Fric (La Floa Maldita) and Oliver Taranczweski (Evils Toy, Yavin 4), Aftermath exudes with a think Euro influence of the late 90’s, which is welcomed.  Lush sounds are juxtaposed against rattling beats and pulsating rhythms.  Non-forced, easily flowing, natural vocals are joined by spacey, robot-like vocals on many tracks.  Intertwined within some of the pieces are movie / television samples, but they are used sparingly and are subtle enough as to not disrupt the music.  Standout tracks include Venus Corpse (with its dance-floor demanding beat), Dreaming Siren (with its joined male/female vocals), Blackmask Icon (with its edgy and rough feel), and Corridor 12 (with its light, bouncy synths.)  The remainder of the album is excellent, each track breathing a life of its own and each uniquely different from the next.  Looking back on past releases, Cruciform Injection seemed to like to toss in a few remixes by some upper level electro bands (Decoded Feedback, Funker Vogt, Icon of Coil, and Haujobb) to round out their albums, but such is not the case with Aftermath.  Instead, we find a pair or remixed tracks from their first CD (Biomechanical Disintegration) and a Yavin 4 remix of Deadlines.  After listening to some of the elements within the remixes of Embryonic Testaments and Black Tides, you can get a bit of flavor on how their sound has matured over the past 5-6 years.  Oliver’s Y4 vs CI remixes finishes off the album with a club stomping, complex electro track, chock full of fresh and addictive sounds.  Because of what I heard on Aftermath, I tracked down two previous CDs and found them to be equally as inviting, yet each one a bit different.  With Aftermath, Cruciform Injection has earned their place as one of my top albums of ‘06.

1) Intro                              2) Replaced **       3) Venus Corpse **
4) Raise Your Flags                   5) Dreaming Siren    6) Do Svi Danya
7) Every Mans Sin                     8) Sugarbomb         9) Deadline
10) Blackmask Icon                   11) Corridor 12      12) Embryonic Testaments (Still Born mix)
13) Black Tides (Crashing Down mix)  14) Deadline (YAVIN 4 vs CRUCIFORM INJECTION)
** featured on the player