''Tellurique'' is the fourth studio album by French
industrial rock
Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...
music group
Kill the Thrill
Kill the Thrill is a French industrial rock/metal band formed in Marseille in 1989. The band consists of Nicolas Dick (lead vocals, guitar, programming), Marylin Tognolli (bass, programming, vocals), and Frédéric De Benedetti (guitar, vocals). ...
. It was released on 17 May 2005 through
Season of Mist
Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pag ...
record label.
Musical style
Like Kill the Thrill's overall sound, ''Tellurique'' draws influences from various genres, including
heavy metal,
new wave,
ambient goth,
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
and
industrial music
Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...
.
Featuring frontman Nicolas Dick's occasionally low and effect-laden
deadpan
Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant to be blun ...
vocals, the album consists of "down-tempo, brooding, lyric-driven songs"
and atmospheric compositions typical of
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
and
space rock
Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...
styles.
In terms of atmosphere and compositions, the tracks on the album were compared to the works of
Killing Joke
Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass).
Their first album, ''Ki ...
,
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.
Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...
,
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...
,
Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
and
Voivod.
Critical reception
Eduardo Rivadavia of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
praised the album's eclectic style, describing it as "too sparse for metal, too morbid for new wave, too humanized for industrial, and definitely too alternative for alternative rock." Nevertheşless, Rivadavia further added that the record's "strange creative pathways may prove too broad, or too vague, to make a connection with their limited tastes of the fans of the other different musical styles, co-signing the French trio to once again appeal to just a very small and selective, but open-minded, fan base."
''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'' magazine critic Monica S. Kuebler stated: "Atmospheric and unhappy, Kill the Thrill's fifth release is not entirely fulfilling; it seems for each track that really hits home there is one that misses or feels like filler." Kuebler eventually concluded her review with "an 'A for effort and for those moments where the genre cliché is challenged, but a hard-earned 'C for the final product."
Track listing
All songs are written by Nicolas Dick and Kill the Thrill, except where noted.
# "A Little Star for a Better Feeling" – 6:08
# "Permanent Imbalance" – 6:42
# "An Indefinite Direction" – 6:50
# "Non Existence" – 4:54
# "Soave" – 5:37
# "Like Cement" – 5:09
# "Diaphragme" – 6:36
# "Head" – 4:03
# "Body" – 5:55
# "Mistaken Solutions" – 6:36
# "
Us and Them
Us and Them may refer to:
*The sociological concept of in-group and out-group
*'' Us & Them'', an American television series
* ''Us and Them'' (Australian TV series), a 1994 Australian comedy television series
* "Us and Them" (song), by Pink Floyd ...
"
(Godflesh
Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...
cover) – 5:35
# "The Finish" – 5:05
Personnel
Album personnel as adapted from album liner notes.
[Kill the Thrill – ''Tellurique'' album liner notes.]
;Kill the Thrill
* Marylin Tognolli – bass guitar, vocals
* Nicolas Dick – guitar, vocals, electronics, drum programming, recording, mixing, production
* Frédéric De Benedetti – guitar, vocals
;Other personnel
* Solenn Risset – saxophone
* Anouk Ricard – backing vocals
* Jérôme Cros – artwork
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2005 albums
Season of Mist albums
Kill the Thrill albums