Combichrist, got to say that I’ve never heard of the band so my first impression was from the name. First thought was going to be punk metal. Then I saw the title of the album, Making Monsters, and I was sure it was going to be just a lot of screaming into the microphone with a lot of heavy & hard guitar and drum playing. Surprisingly what was played on Making Monsters CD was not what I was expecting, in fact it was a pleasant surprise to what I ended up listening to.

The first song threw me off and had me hoping that the following songs would not end up being a disappointment. With the first song there’s on vocals at all, just all instrumental. What’s played in this first song that has this sound that reminds of a futuristic time. There’s this pounding static sound played on top of the main insruments and it just elicits this feeling of power, of a need, and a lot of energy. Only problem is that it’s only right at 2 minutes long.

Then on the second song my hopes seemed to be dashed when the vocals kicked in. There it was, screaming, just loud, raspy screaming that was going to destroy the good, powerful sound that the first song had produced. Fortunately this screaming sound does not keep with the rest of the CD. There is more screaming involved but it’s not with every song. The sound that Combichrist has on Making Monsters is this techno, rave, punk club mix that has vocals that are more punk than anything else. The songs are powerful, they have energy, and the vocals do make the song better. Listening to this CD had me wanting to dance or just bounce around off the walls while just enjoying what I was hearing. Making Monsters had me hooked by the end of the 12 tracks. Their sound is good, the mix of punk and techno works well here, and the energy in the songs has just enough intensity without going overboard.