“Mental Slavery” is no doubt the most open and club-minded album written by LEAETHER STRIP since his return to the forefront of the electronic scene. Claus Larsen masterfully delivers a very angry and upbeat album dealing with mental distortions triggered by our world made of fear, pain and anger. A concept perfectly captured in the album art by the talented American artist Evi Numen.
LEAETHER STRIP translated this emotional violence into a roller-coaster collection of EBM songs constructed around powerful electronic sequences, punishing beats and brutal harsh vocals (“Turmoil”, “Your God has left you tonight”, “No entry no exit”, “Battle Mind”, etc).
And to avoid making this dark album sounding too claustrophobic and intricate, Claus Larsen added that little touch of experimentation through a couple of more intimate songs (“Invade my body” or “The bear’s aren’t sleeping tonight”) and other slower moody tracks (“We Built the walls”, the poignant “Slow”, the carrying “Dead Soil” or yet the grandiose dreamy “Abscido”…) which all together reinforce the richness of this chef d’oeuvre. Also noticeable is the evident inspiration of the classics in the likes of Beethoven’s “Moonlight sonata”, Chopin’s “Funeral march” or songs like the pearl “My Shadow is your home” or yet “My Funeral”.There is also the splendid collaborations with Andi Sex Gang who offers the perfect vocal duet to “What have I done” or yet the acoustic version of “Songs for Pia” by I:SCINTILLA’s Jim Cookas… “Mental Slavery” is bound to become a milestone in LEAETHER STRIP’s prolific career, gathering in a way, the best elements which made the band’s successful career to date, but also opening new directions and exploring new grounds reminding us of how unpredictable our favorite Danish multi-talented artist can be. For those of you who have the chance to put their hand on the deluxe carton box limited edition of this album, you will also enjoy the “Mental Disturbance” bonus CD featuring some 17 bonus remixes by bands like PORTION CONTROL, E-CRAFT, Sebastian Komor, KANT KINO, PSY’AVIAH, AUTODAFEH, etc. And that’s not all! We get a beautiful lanyard to which all fans can attach the included LEAETHER STRIP plastic card and it’s through this card that we can gain access to some 19 bonus downloadable remixes by acts in the likes of PNE, AMGOD, STERIL, SOLITARY EXPERIMENTS, CERVELLO ELETTRONICO, FREAKANGEL, ACYLUM, DUNKELWERK, ESSENCE OF MIND, GAYTRON, NEIKKA RPM, RAZORFADE, etc. Released on Alfa Matrix and available June 11th, 2010.
CD1 – Mental Slavery (1)
01: Introvert, 02: Turmoil (fuel for fascism), 03: My shadow is your home, 04: I feel human, 05: State of mind control, 06: Invade my body, 07: Out there, 08: Abusive, 09: Your god has left you tonight, 10: Closer to the pulse beat, 11: It’s the end, 12: No entry no exit, 13: Thirty-seven point one, 14: Strobe lights, 15: Frankfurt noir, 16: Invade my body (Bær Body Music mix)
CD2 – Mental Slavery (2)
01: Grab it now, 02: We build the walls, 03: Slow, 04: Battle mind, 05: Dead soil, 06: Song for Pia, 07: What have i done? (feat. Andi Sex Gang), 08: H. C. Ørsted, 09: Out there (Tunguska version), 10: My funeral, 11: I watch you fall, 12: Abscido, 13: Song for Pia (acoustic version feat. Jim Cookas), 14: The Bears aren’t sleeping tonight (Dance mix)