Coptic Rain
Eleven Eleven

The cultured and post-modern vanguard of Central European origin that developed on a continental scale during the '70s and '80s identified the movement of the 'Neue Slowenische Kunst' (epicenter: the Slovenian capital Ljubljana) as one of its most vital hubs.

During that period, various genres emerged in parallel, including Industrial Rock (Throbbing Gristle, Test Department, Cabaret Voltaire…), Electronic Body Music (pioneers Skinny Puppy and Ministry), and less "codified" sounds such as the blend of Art Rock and New Wave from the early Clock DVA or the "metronomic" electronic music of the Berlin-based Kraftwerk. From the controversial (and fundamental) project of Laibach, which pursued the ambitious program of a "post-modern reinterpretation of the global pop heritage," a stylistic attitude emerged that involved the assemblage of multiple genres and cultural references to achieve a unified and homogeneous architectural form, a very fine layering of stylistic-conceptual references that made hits from all times (from "Let It Be" to "The Final Countdown") reinterpreted in that light appear distorted by the wide-angle lens of cultured historicization, and almost "blurred" or "pixelated" by subsequent stylistic overlays.

In the organizational framework of this scene, the Coptic Rain, a Slovenian duo composed of musician Peter Penko and vocalist Katrin Radman, made a decisive entry in the mid-'90s. Their debut album "Dies Irae" immediately defined the duo's musical formula: drum machines with rhythms now hyperkinetic and almost thrash, now slower and hypnotic, sampled and scathing guitars, bouncing echo effects, singing in the style of PJ Harvey/Babes In Toyland mostly filtered and distorted with almost "elegiac" ethereal moments. In summary, a group citing among its main influences Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, and Bauhaus. The album, promising yet perhaps a bit "raw," was followed by this second work titled "Eleven: Eleven."

The differences are several, but one stands out immediately: the greater awareness of the stylistic and cultural perimeter of that movement, and therefore of the limits of the range of action, but at the same time the potentialities that remain unexplored. The results of this "maturation" are evident: a more skillful use of loops and sequences, more varied rhythms, greater transparency of melodic intuition. If tracks like "Double Edge" or "Unseen-Untold" seem to focus the stylistic profile of the creators of "Dies Irae," it is in tracks like "First Wave," suspended and enveloped in an almost ambient-industrial mood, up to the gems of the work: the cover of "Sweet Home Under White Clouds" by the Virgin Prunes (unimpeachable, as was the cover that Therapy? made of "Isolation" by Joy Division) followed by the epic ride "Videodrome," a rhythmic/instrumental masterpiece, driven by vocal virtuosity, and above all the peak expression of the art of sampling, reminiscent of "Scarecrow" by Ministry and the Young Gods of "TV Sky."

More versatile, self-aware and "projecting" towards new horizons of "virtual music" and multimedia "performance art," this "Eleven: Eleven" is so far the best achievement the duo from this corner of Central Europe has managed to realize, but perhaps it also hints at a truly impressive talent lurking behind the "wall of sound" of each song: that of its authors Peter and Katrin. The rain falling between the inner and hallucinatory journey of "A Rebours" and the space-communicative labyrinth of "Matrix" outlines a possible profile of existence.