Covenant- Modern Ruin

Artist: Covenant

CD title: Modern Ruin

Label: Metropolis Records

Genre: EBM

Website: https://www.covenant.se/

Reviewer: Nineiz

Date: 01-21-11

Covenant Goes House

Eskil Simonsson, Joakim Monthlies, and their new member Daniel Myer (also in Haujobb) finally released the album everyone been waiting for since so long. We have already heard most of the material live on stage and in YouTube accounts and still the album is the final cut. Covenant manages to surprise us once again. Covenant has been on the roads since Skyshaper album 2006 and the fans might have had something to do with the outcome of the new album. It could also be Daniel Myers’ permanent position in the band. The only thing I am sure of is that these versions are not at all what I expected after listening demo versions and live clips on internet.

“Modern Ruin” makes me wonder if Covenant stopped flirting with gas mask scene and instead turned their flattering wings towards DJ’s of house. It would be logical, Goth is changing into Gucci Goth and the scene is changing towards sampling of else then ultra gas mask EBM rhythms, so maybe it is a move in line with the fashion of it all.

I am not saying this album isn't Covenant. Tracks like “Beat the Noise”, “Dynamo Clock” and “Worlds Collide,” feel like old songs in new versions. Still when I compare the songs of Covenants “Modern Ruin” album to earlier versions on the internet it feels like they choose a different producer for the final cut of the album, someone that loves house. In some parts of the album this producer got his or hers fingers slapped off though it seems on a few of the non house tunes such as “Modern Ruin”, Track 12 and “The Road”.

The last song, “The Road,” has a total VNV Nation feeling for me. It makes me think of  songs like “As it Fades” from VNV Nation’s “Judgment”. “The Road” is not the last song because there is a 12th track which is unlisted. The unlisted track is very strange one and neo-futuristic and nearly as strange as the first track “Modern Ruin”. These intro and outro tracks frame the album by the feeling of an alien visit to earth and the return, as if viewers of human mess. On the track, “Get On” the background synth seems to be this feeling of strangeness showing itself again. Maybe it is the Covenant way of giving a chance to distance.

But the total feeling of this album is Covenant as they always sounds, except for some tracks, only with house feeling. The intro and outro track, along with “Kairos” (very short ballad with really simple clean lovely sound), “The Beauty and The Grace” (kind of beautiful epic song) and “LightBringer” are the surprises of the album. “LightBringer” features Oscar Holter and Henrik Bäckström from Necro Facility, who won a prize for best single that sky high on the top lists 2010. This one is not even house, it is more of pop actually. “The Night” is very odd like an old hippie song updated with the modern Covenant touch and still quite catchy. “Modern Ruin” seems to try flirting with all fans at the same time and introducing new sound to catch more.

There is a golden egg in the limited edition. It is a 7-tracks bonus CD with Wir Sind Die Nacht, the tune Covenant made with samples from the German vampire film with same name for its soundtrack. It also contains remixes of this by Oscar Holter and Henrik Bäckström and a full instrumental version among a sample of the song, plus sample tracks of “Ich War Nichts” and “Wunder”.

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