Schwefelgelb - Trigger
It's become fairly common for people to critique the difference between live and in-studio versions of any particular piece of music. The inconsistency in energy is a driving force in this criticism. I think we've been there; you fall in love with the studio record, and for one reason or another, the live version doesn't have that same, or maybe that one live experience blew you away, relegated to memory without adequate representation in the studio. The live vs. studio debate has never really been an issue with electronic music, especially dance music. Still, with the prevalence of live sets becoming the norm, it's become another hat electronic artists have to wear.
One group that has always succeeded in meeting or, more likely, surpassing expectations is the German two-piece Schwefelgelb. Anyone who's caught them live, you'll know the phonetic energy they bring to each live set. And for those who haven't, the EBM duo Form this future punk barrage of sound that commands total attention. A few videos online need to do it justice, but if you are curious, take what you see and turn it up to 1000. With any Schwefelgelb release, there's always a fear that it won't live up to their live productions. There's something to be said for hearing it stupidly loud with a group of like-minded individuals. Still, their latest outing, Trigger (2024), Doesn't pull any punches and almost ends up becoming a perfect case study for how to simulate the feelings you get from a live performance on a record.
Schwefelgelb Achieve this live adjacent feeling through a fantastic use of acceleration and deceleration on their track 'IO'. It's like an out-of-control bullet train that keeps speeding up and speeding up. The Schwefelgelb has always been intertwined with flashes of industrial, but 'IO' totally flips that notion on its head. Instead, Schwefelgelb propels the audience into a frenzy, sticking logic clear from those genre signifiers. The dual uses a combination of pitch manipulation and temper control to play the audience like some transhumanist conductor. Schwefelgelb creates this perpetual motion using the baseline to constantly up the intensity, resulting in a rollercoaster-like climb to the track climax before slowing the tempo down almost to a halt so that they can hit you again with a barrage sound.
The second track, 'Open World Games', situates itself as more theatrical and while it does venture more into the industrial roots of the band, the atmosphere and ensuing dread that's fostered by excellent sound design set aside from being just another big room banger. The dramatics come from the distant lead that slowly wades into the foreground. Rugged glitches combined with rave breakbeats avoid becoming stale due to the hyper-specific twist, but it puts on them. The glitches sound more like digital artefacts that become a breakdown, while the rave elements are minimalist, which feels Like the antithesis of what they should be. Still, they give much-needed relief to the oppressively dark atmospheres created throughout 'Open World Games'.
Slapping two remixes on the end of your record is always a good way to win over fans, but it's much more considered in this case. The UFO95 remix of 'Open World Games' is a relentless Electro/techno mash-up in the vein of early Scuba. The remix sticks to a minimalist take on the record. UFO95 infuses a powerful sense of rust and dilapidation through the atmosphere rather than sound design. In contrast to the UFO95 remix that opts to stick with Schwefelgelb's aesthetic, Flore's remix of 'IO' throws caution to the wind with a total turn to left field. The remix oozes with a contemporary UKG swagger that wouldn't be out of place on a Rinse FM show. It is nasty. That's something totally outside the group's wheelhouse. You can still make it on the record, showing a willingness to take inspiration from new ideas to widen their sound palette.
Tracklist:
OI
Open World Game
OI (Flore Remix)
Open World Game (UFO95 Remix)
Label: n-PLEX (2024)
Schwefelgelb - Trigger
