Initial Prayer - The Last Men In Europe

Various permutations of Initial Prayer have been writing and performing live since the 1980s, yet strangely enough The Last Men In Europe is their first recordings to see the light of day. The Last Men In Europe appears to be articulated from the same doomy post-industrial sounds that fuelled the likes of Coil and Terminal Cheesecake in the late eighties.

The cascading drones and distant voices of 'White Waters' is clearly reminiscent of Coil's 'The Sewage Workers Birthday Party'. It's followed by 'All Hope Fails' a mordant symphony of melodic synth drones, gentle orchestral sweeps and shards of reverberating guitar. The surging scuzz guitar takes centre stage on the stunning 'In Defence' where the lo-fi wigged out guitar and rampant percussion kinda reminds of Skullflower or early Terminal Cheesecake. A strident array of symphonic stabs are found on 'We Serve' over buzzing guitars and some forthright percussion. A maelstrom of voices collide as the lead vocals delivered almost frantically add a fresh dimension to the sonic rush. 'Beyond Good and Evil' is birthed from pulsing beats, and edgy electronics before gloomy keyboards and angelic choirs rise to create this masterstroke of post-industrial bleakness. It's followed by a sombre lone piano piece, before the closing 'The Longest Journey', an epic soundpiece of floating keyboards, and fried krautrock inspired guitar lines.

There's no details of when this was recorded but I'd suspect that this is something of an archive release. It's housed in a slightly stilted sleeve but its certainly going to be of interest to those with a background in these post-indutrial type things. I really enjoyed it. And if you're still wavering, Thighpaulsandra and Siôn Orgon did the mastering on this one. For more information go to www.corrosivegrowthindustries.com