Church of Industrial Music: Dive - Concrete Jungle

I was introduced to Dive through a somewhat odd source, which was a metalhead girl that I dated briefly when I was 16 or so. This is only odd because I knew so few people who were into this stuff at the time. Apparently she had another friend who was into industrial, and she brought this album over one day, along with some Xorcist and some goth band I don't remember. I never got all that into the goth stuff. Anyway, this album I definitely did get into (the Xorcist too, but that's a different story). Though I don't think rhythmic/power noise was a thing as far as genres yet (at least, I don't remember hearing the terms until later), I consider this sort of my introduction to that concept. I think other Dive albums, including the first one which precedes this one, are even more harsh and noisy, but this was my introduction.

As you may know, Dive's Dirk Ivens was also a member of Klinik. Although I appreciate their contribution to the genre, personally, I'm a bigger fan of Dive. Although neither project saw much popularity outside of the industrial scene, I think they were some of the most influential projects within the genre (and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that opinion). While I think this album contains some of Dive's "lightest" work (as mentioned above), this is hardly pop music either. I think this really boils down to just two differences: less distortion on most of the drums, and more synths doing melodic-type stuff than is usual for Dive.

Listen to an extended version of Concrete Jungle on Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/album/6744036

"Slippin' Away" leads the album, and although I think it's an example of the less-harsh sound I mentioned, it also seems to be one of the templates that many other bands followed afterwards. Of course, it may be more a case of shared influences, but the minimalist, dark synths and effected drums backing up whispery-yet-disotrted vocals was essentially the formula for 90's electro-industrial. Not that Dive was the first, but if you listen to this, I think you'll see where I'm coming from. The second track, "Mindtorture", is one of the more typically-Dive tracks, consisting mostly of distorted beats and sparse vocals. Skipping ahead a couple, "Take Your Dreams Away" is one with more synths and fewer drums, but still a favorite. Like most of Dive's material, it's fairly simple, but has a sound that just grabs me. This is followed by "Broken Meat", which brings the beat back to the forefront, but also has some pretty cool synth stuff going on. I love the bassline in this one. Skipping a couple more, the title track stands out from the rest, with entirely different vocal effects that I really love. The music is great too, with what I think of as a "classic industrial" drum sound... a touch distorted, and drenched in reverb. The final track, "Lust" is 11+ minutes of semi-ambient industrial. There is a solid beat, but it feels more dark than heavy to me. Not that that's a bad thing.

All in all, I wouldn't say this is my favorite Dive album, but it does stand out sound-wise, particularly in the early catalog. It would be hard for me to pick a favorite from the rest, because most of them have tracks that I really love. I think the first album is the one I listen to as a whole the most though. If you're a fan of rhythmic industrial, and you haven't heard Dive, you definitely should.