Full Speed Ahead |Fanoe Records, 2010|

01. Overture, 02. Only You, 03. Narcotica, 04. Full Speed Ahead, 05. All For Nothing, 06. Fuck You, 07. Come Together, 08. Falling, 09. Fire, 10. Pig Inside, 11. Wild Card, 12. Dive, 13. Grace

Fanoe acts upon their own instincts. Never stopping with one style of sound, but continuously experimenting, changing arrangements and making the final results extremely interesting.
There are many punk and new wave influences mixed into their music; from Killing Joke, through Joy Division on to New Model Army and beyond. It doesn't surprise me since they are European and such influences have been dominating European alternative music for many years. However, you won't find them sounding like NIN, Ministry, Filter or any typical industrial rock influences. Fanoe's music is very difficult to classify, especially when it comes to Full Speed Ahead.

My first reaction to this new album was centered around the front artwork; a slim, young and naked woman's hips are held in the tentacles of a pinkish, slippery octopus. The picture or photomontage looks stylish, without yielding itself as pornography. The tentacles of the octopus don't reach the limits of H.R. Giger's Aliens; however shown in a subtle form (um... except that the cephalopod is crawling between the breast of the Goddess). It's enough though since there are no further topics related to eroticism on the album, or at least when it comes to atmospheres. The Swiss music from Fanoe sounds guitar driven and rough. Klaus Fanoe's voice (voc., guitar) is recognizable and stands out very well. He's accompanied by Diana Perola (bass), Ari Rossi (guitar) and Marco Trachsel (drums) in the band. They used analogue keyboards for this album purposefully, although you can barely hear them since they were dominated by the guitars and vocals. That's good; if it had been too electronic I wouldn't have reviewed it in Fabryka ;)

I am sure I like "Pig Inside" the best after the first, second and tenth listenings. This is because it has that typical industrial rock sound with interesting structure, cold samples and layered guitars.
It's also worth mentioning a few other cool songs on this album: In a style I would classify as a bit cabaret-like "All For Nothing" (I have no idea why The Clockwork Orange Alex' silhouette comes to my mind while listening to Klaus singing here), "Narcotica" and the title song "Full Speed Ahead" (though it's not as extreme as the title might suggest). There's also a cover song of "Come Together", originally released by The Beatles on the Abbey Road album in 1969. The last song on Full Speed Ahead is a song called "Grace"; a song that brings coldwave vibes reminiscent of The Sisters of Mercy and Joy Division.

The album was mastered by Enrico Mercaldi, who is best known from working on the albums of Depeche Mode, Placebo and Moby. Full Speed Ahead is very highly recommended to the fans of rock music, but less to hardcore industrial rock fans.

(Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz, 10/01/2010. Must not be used for promotional or commercial purposes. See a Legal Note for the copyrights below)

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