3Force – Resistance (2017)

Following familiar queues in electronic music, 3Force manages to not only achieve the climaxes through well-crafted expectation and adequate use of impact, but also sound articulate: someone using an established, rich language to its full potential as a means of communication. Songs here have a tendency to be concise, but out of an aristocratic restraint that stays aloof from crassness, speaks what needs to be said efficiently and without undue bombast. Given the evidence, some have credited the elegant eloquence through melody and paucity we hear in Resistance to the influence of veterans and pioneers Kraftwerk. Said influence is heard in the thematic melodies, and in the sense of percussion. Now, the music here is much more decorated, and themes are veiled or quickly made to variate in some way or other, so that while Kraftwerk demands a conscious effort to remain anchored, 3Force expands grandiously so that the listener is better entertained. This does not detract from the music, and rather enhances it into shapes and effects arising from its central spine, just as embellishments in Mozart’s music only made it greater, because they were not haphazard nor were they incongruous.

The power Resistance has to uplift, inspire and otherwise reinvigorate the souls of those who would rise to the challenge, meet their moment, seize the day, or whatever other expression of conscious action under willpower one chooses to verbalize. Even if we were not aware of the titles given to the album and the songs, the finished pieces here do so strongly convey these sentiments by way of pressing those buttons that activate similar chemical reactions in human beings. This, in itself, the knowledge of the way in which combinations of patterns of sounds (of which the concept and notation are but abstractions), is what music really is. The birth of electronic music, even when it was not known by this name, what was understood was that the electronic means would be a way for composers to free themselves from conventional instrumentations for the sake of reaching closer to the sound in itself, something that may still be possible for metal to do [2] if it can go beyond itself without losing focus or falling into the whirlwind of a different and more limited set of tropes [3].

We learn again in 3Force Resistance, that despite trends and the time-positioning of particular stylings and the technology of the instruments, great music of any kind is timeless and achieves permanence by its ability to transmit in well-defined patterns, and not merely on presumptions of spirituality, religiosity or ideology. Additionally, that human beings of all stripes and colors, of different abilities and possessed of distinct preferences in life, tending towards all kinds of beliefs religious and plolitical, are capable of exactly the same inner inspiration and inner as well as outer greatness. Finally, and most importantly, that honor lies in the individual and belongs to the realm of his actions, and that their valuation should be made in terms of that, and not in the off-hand manner hitherto exercised by a brute, unconscious and ignorant ‘humanity’.

Notes

[1] Listen to the work of Kraftwerk, but especially of Klaus Schulze. Tangerine Dream should be mentioned, as well.

[2] See our review of Siete Lagunas I & II: https://www.deathmetal.org/review/siete-lagunas-i-ii-2018/

[3] Refer to the article A case study in wallpaper black metal and a discussion of its apologetics: https://www.deathmetal.org/article/wallpaper-black-metal-apologetics/

Tags: , , , ,

34 thoughts on “3Force – Resistance (2017)”

  1. Satan akbar says:

    but to he honest its no different or better than all the other trending stupid annoying electronic music going around these days no matter how you guys try to spice it up

    1. D.A.R.G. says:

      Please do share with us “other trending stupid annoying electronic music going around these days” that are as good as 3Force Resistance.

      1. Satan akbar says:

        you know when you watch vidoes of people having similar sounding music and when you maybe have the tv on and hear electronic music thats what i’m referring to all those popular edm djs and stuff like dead mouse i find it really annoying and anti metal review something brutal already

        1. D.A.R.G. says:

          So:

          1) Is all that electronic music you are referring to as good as 3Force’s?

          2) Have you read our review of Mortum The Rites of Depopulation, and have you listened to their album with due attention?

          1. Satan akbar says:

            1. first i do not even see what is so good about 3force but i was saying it sounds like that stuff to me and i dont see how it’s any better then stuff like that

            2. yeah i read the article i don’t see what this has to do with this article when i said review something brutal i meant review something from for the next Article not something weak and mainstream trendy sounding like 3force

            also i know you guys said that you like to give your cultured and realistic view and metal/music but something i have noticed on this site is that you guys will bash or wright off certain other bands but turn around and recommend something that in the awesome sounding department is less then the band that was bash or written off

            1. D.A.R.G. says:

              Perhaps, then, the discussion we may have with you is what this “awesome sounding department” comprehends, and how do we judge that.

              Do you have any band or album in mind that DMU has written off, so that we may discuss that in particular, at least to give an example of how that “cultured and realistic view of metal/music” is applied by us?

            2. whatever is dead says:

              if you don’t like electronic stuff, then you don’t like it. people who don’t listen to metal say it all sounds the same too.

  2. question says:

    What specific releases of Schulze and Tangerine Dream would you recommend?

    1. D.A.R.G. says:

      Before that, let us be clear that what we find in 3Force is a lot of Kraftwerk!

      Now, regaring Tangerine (though I am not really the guy to ask), all releases before they went “lite” are good, but the best is the early stuff from Alpha Centauri (1971) to Phaedra (1974). But this is not “accessible” stuff at all, like 3Force or even Kraftwerk, which are “danceable” (even if robotically). I know there is an earlier album from 1970 but I have never familiarized myself with it.

      If you want to stay on the accessible side first, which can go on par with Kraftwerk as influence for 3Force, you might want to listen to Tangerine Dream Stratosphere (1976), which is perfectly in line with the music we discuss in this article.

      Regarding Klaus Schulze, this master, to me, is the best of Tangerine Dream (the album Atem in 1973) and much more. Tangerine Dream at its most interesting is a bit more airy, while early Schulze had more meat on the bones, and his music even sounds quite structural at points, to use a word. I am no expert, and certainly I haven’t explored Schulze exhaustively and with great attention. But upon my impressions, I have chosen to stick to the first and second albums, namely Irrlicht (1972) for its organicity and rawness, while being so huge and universal, to use some words. Secondly, and this came to me as a recommendation based on my obsession with patterns to listen to, and my childish love of J.S. Bach, Cyborg (1973) is a monster to contemplate as well.

      I hope this helps.

    2. Psychic Psych Toad says:

      Moondawn and X were both once highly recommended on this site.

      1. D.A.R.G. says:

        Yeah, a “real” Schulze fan did recommend me Moondawn particularly.

        And I did read an outstanding “review” of X with its own literary merit at Black Ivory Tower some time ago.
        Here it is: https://blackivorytower.com/2015/03/07/thoughts-on-and-around-klaus-schulzes-x/

    3. T. Desecration says:

      Tangerine Dream is one of the greatest bands of all time and even many of their ostensibly “weaker” 80’s works I hold in very high regard.

      If you want early avant-garde/experimental/dark/psychedelic/atmospheric meditations check out ZEIT (1972), Atem (1973) and Alpha Centauri (1971)

      If you want pure 70’s synthy spacey classic Berlin School TD stuff (generally their most popular) check out: Phaedra (1974), Rubycon (1975) and Ricochet (1975)

      If you want some cool Electronic/Prog Rock hybrid stuff check out Green Desert (1986) [VERY overlooked masterpiece even by TD fans], Force Majeure (1979) and Stratosfear (1976)

      If you want some 80’s style synth stuff that comes to the closest to resembling Kraftwerkian Synthpop while not being too hokey do check out Exit (1981), White Eagle (1982) and Underwater Sunlight (1986) [and completely dismiss the opinion of anyone who will try to tell you they aren’t great while praising trendy retro meme-core garbage]

      For K. Schulze:

      If you want pure meditative spacey neo-classical synth drones check out Irrlicht (1972) and Cyborg (1973)

      If you want his classic “structural” 70’s Berlin School synth sequencer stuff check out Moondawn (1976), Body Love (1977) [very underrated] and Mirage (1977)

      If you want literally Orchestral Neo-Romantic Period / Electronic Berlin School hybrid check out “X” (1978)

      1. T. Desecration says:

        >[and completely dismiss the opinion of anyone who will try to tell you they aren’t great while praising trendy retro meme-core garbage]

        Also for the record this came off a little harsher than intended. I haven’t listened to 3Force yet and I do like some “Synthwave” like 2014-2014 era Pertubator. I do however find a lot of this kind of stuff to be kind of asinine, and even at it’s best it’s still pretty cheesy music (not that’s necessarily a bad thing) with a kind of “novelty” kitsch retro aesthetic that comes off as overtly hollow to me and so it kind of triggers my autism when people will praise borderline meme music while having the audacity to claim that 80’s Tangerine Dream at their best are anything other than Electronic brilliance

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZCjolFMH3M

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftckgVqc04E

        1. T. Desecration says:

          >like 2014-2014 era Pertubator

          Whoops I meant 2012-2014. “I Am the Night”, “Dangerous Days” and especially “TERROR 404” are all highly recommended for anyone who likes this retrosynth stuff, although I personally found “Uncanny Valley” to be unengaging and bland compared to previous works and ABSOLUTELY FUCKING HATED the shitty Dubstep/IDM/Trap Rap sound he went for on his latest release “New Model”

    4. Tangerine Dream’s first three albums are fuckin amazing. _Electronic Meditation_ is more krautrocky tape music, but it is still great. _Alpha Centauri_ and _Zeit_ are absolute classics in their field. These utterly sublime spacey psychedelic synth records that will take you on a journey into the cosmic void. _Zeit_ is one of the greatest albums ever made, period.

      After that, they are not as good.

  3. BattlARTS says:

    I’m digging this. Became a fan of synthwave/retrowave/whatever like two years ago, but so much of it doesn’t appeal to me at all: way too pop-ish or dance music sounding. This group, Perturbator, Xurious and Protector 101 are the best I’ve heard so far.

    1. D.A.R.G. says:

      Thank you for sharing.
      Will definitely try those some time.

  4. mysterious G says:

    Mega Drive is a better example of this electronic niche.

  5. For the gays says:

    The present commenter’s words will be displayed once they have something worthwhile to say and they are able to articulate in a gentlemanly/ladylike manner.

  6. Phil says:

    Sample track was a bit boring. Good background music though.

  7. Flying Kites says:

    The present commenter’s words will be displayed once they have something worthwhile to say and they are able to articulate in a gentlemanly/ladylike manner.
    Hint: more about the dystopia, less about the shemales.

    1. Flying Kites says:

      OK

      This musical aesthetic, with its language in synth, is tied heavily to dark sc-fi stuff. It gets too bouncy at times like it’s trying your patience, and other times remains aloof. The more popular themes in these types of works, is that lone wolf or detached persona.

  8. ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ says:

    Cool. We need more non-metal music with a metallic spirit such as this. Medieval religious music would also be welcome in the future, although the pseudosatanists here would be triggered. I wonder what does DMU think about Dance With The Dead and the bands a guy mentioned above.

    1. D.A.R.G. says:

      The majority of the collective DMU community, especially those amongst the writers and contributors, has always shown great respect and admiration for DEAD CAN DANCE.

      1. ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ says:

        I know. I meant those guys actually, kind of similar to Perturbator and those synthwave stuff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f25R9Gl6FWc

  9. mysterious G says:

    The Sentenced demos are worth analysis. Often written off as a mere Death copy.

  10. Krabapple says:

    For me Kraftwerk’s best effort was Die Mensch Maschine because I feel like they best encapsulated the beautiful math that ‘danceable rhythm’ can approximate, as well as having the most stolid and austere sound they could put out. A staid and as you put it very well- aristocratic sense of restraint is the primary quality of that album even above and beyond T.E.E. and Computer Love (though I do love Autobahn more and more alongside that amazing sound track Kling Klang). By the way how much has the staff listened to early Biosphere?

    This band you linked obviously understands such influences and more quite well as they understand the ‘pulse’ of the genre: they can pick out the melodic-rhythmic segment that is necessary to push the song on. I liked this quite a bit- but I think they lack some of the classical eternal self-clarity that Kraftwerk had in favor of some sort of pop-in-the-punch a la Depeche Mode by a tiny margin. Maybe that last sentence made no sense.

    1. ballsack melanoma says:

      You know this is the only site that still cares about Kratwerk right? People with a frame of reference for electronic music any broader than “a handful of very serious German guys from the 70s and that one Beherit album” regard Kraftwerk like the Model T. Historically important, but anachronistic (in the ‘chubby high school kid who wears fedoras’ sort of way, not the charming way) and obsolete.

      1. D.A.R.G. says:

        Thanks you for the newsflash?

  11. whatever is dead says:

    i kind of like it. it’s no Meathole though.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLZUx8QlsQE

  12. Neodomus says:

    This genre is cool but doesn’t have much depth. Everyone just uses the formula to sound 80’s and sci-fi/dystopia, and therefore everyone they all sound the same and it gets old fast. Very entertaining while the novelty lasts, though.

    Anyway the best album of this kind is, to me, Carpenter Brut’s Trilogy. Great videos also.

    1. ballsack melanoma says:

      Why not just listen to a soundtrack or something that’s actually from that zeitgeist? this stuff is pure cringe. it’s like listening to Tenacious D because “haha this silly 80s heavy metal stuff is entertaining”

  13. Joe says:

    I like this album. The art is good and it is a fun listen.
    Personally, I tried to tap into Tangerine Dream and Bladerunner styled synths for many long years in Dawning.

  14. nonholy devourer of truckstop pizza says:

    Fashwave is cringe. You guys hyping this stuff up is the equivalent of a bunch of ravers getting into Ghost and writing a review about how they’re “saving metal.” Nothing wrong with having a broad palette, but when it comes to writing, please stay in your lane.

Comments are closed.

Classic reviews:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z