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In Flames (1995-1999) Hanin Elias Digital Hardcore Records, 2000
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Tracks Reviewed by Ian Grey
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Hanin Elias is all about adding insight to injury. According to her online, self-penned biography, the Atari Teenage Riot lead shrieker was born prematurely to a traumatized mother and an arch-conservative father whose unspecified behavior Hanin eventually could "no longer stomach" (among other things, he was fond of taking his daughter to public executions). By age 15, she was living in a filthy squat in Rauchhaus, Germany. Of course, the artist could be making some false allegations to add some ground zero grit to her cred ratio. Maybe, maybe not. But then you put on In Flames (1995-1999), and hear her scream. We're not talking rote signifying rock yelp: it's more like lungs being ripped out, like the stickiest of primal traps made flesh and sound. In comparison, the relatively polite banshee wails of Diamonda Galas' Plague Mass sound reassuring and refined. Unlike skillful but hate-soiled poseurs like Eminem, Hanin is the real deal: the only way the mean streets she invokes could be read as "cool" would be through the eyes of a sociopath. Musically, this is MC-505 "Industrial #2" drum sounds, speaker-wrecking low end rumbles and samples of God-knows-what, all cranked through what sounds like Satan's own Hi-Watt stack. Lyrically, it's pretty artless, black and white shit. Then again, so is rape. The topic of which leads to words such as "I come with my mind/Cut you in pieces/I come 'cause I want some quiet" ("Girl Serial Killer"). She also shows the natural born orchestrator's knack for juxtaposing seemingly disparate electronic textures, gales of noise, snippets of chat and slices of melody. On "Sirens," she toys in a girlie-giggle voice with some playa's who want to look at her tits. The increasingly ominous chitchat cross-fades to strip-joint lounge, then to a looped orchestral theme cruising on a bed of pink noise de-evolving into primordial sonic muck until... Right. That unholy, downright frightening scream. Hanin Elias is not someone most folks would want to meet in a dark alley. But if you resonate in a personal way to the concerns voiced on In Flames, she could be your own personal Dirty Harry. | July 2000
Ian Grey's work has been published in Time Out, Icon, Fangoria and many other periodicals. 1998 saw the publication of his book, Sex, Stupidity and Greed: Inside the American Movie Industry (JunoBooks). He is currently at work on an epic novel dealing with sex, pop music, family and mass murder, based on two lines from a mediocre Depeche Mode song. Mr. Grey likes to think that he will be among the very first to do this. |
We're not talking rote signifying rock yelp: it's more like lungs being ripped out, like the stickiest of primal traps made flesh and sound. In comparison, the relatively polite banshee wails of Diamonda Galas' Plague Mass sound reassuring and refined. |
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