It is no secret I like various music genres. Although I think it’s quite a leap from brutal death metal or grindcore to dance tunes, but that’s exactly me. And while I am still enjoying extreme riffs and blastbeats, I do remember also the days (long gone) of dancing not a few nights away.
If you – like me – did enjoy my recollection of the fundamental dance album from Slovakia from MC Erik and Barbara (because fundamental it was, there should be no discussion about that) I’ve reviewed some time ago, you’d be pleased to learn dance music is still alive and well in Slovakia. And can I ignore it? Right, I don’t think so either.
So, what do we have here? Well, this is no MC Erik and Barbara and no happy dancefloor of 1990s. With Projekt203 we’re digging a little deeper into the electronic music scene, somewhere between electro-pop and melodic EBM. Although by the logo I’d expect something I’d mention in one breath with acts like Laibach, or some other politically oriented EBM acts (not that I would mind), in the end it’s something else.
As it’s often the case, Projekt203 is a three-member band, consisting of singer Sissi Enns, Ondrej and Marcel and “Singles”, from july 2018, is their first offering to the public on Bandcamp, followed by “Virus” from August, 2018 and “Remixes” from October 2018.
With this short introduction, what about the music? “Singles” contains 7 songs, all sung in Slovak language. And as I’ve written in the review for Catastrofy’s album, it’s not easy to pen lyrics in languages like Slovak, so it’s only commendable. Of course, this will be an obstacle to non-Slovak listeners, but I am sure these will definitely appreciate the music and the voices of singers (for example, in “Posledné“, where we can hear also a male vocals). Although I was not that much enamored with “Upírska vášeň“ (Vampiric Desire), I was fully compensated with “Mrazivá“ (Freezing One) and “Dokonalá“ (Perfect One), which hints at aforementioned 1990s with dreamtrance keyboard elements. Perfect, indeed! Last one is “Vlčia svorka“ (Wolf Pack), alternating the hard-hitting beats with slower-tempo vocal parts, and I guess this one is not suitable to listen to while driving, lol.
All said and done, I am sure experts could get to the very last bit of the music and compare Projekt203 to, say, Funker Vogt and similar artists, but from my “view” as a listener, because that’s what I am primarily, I am well pleased with how Projekt203 has filled some spare time of mine with great tunes. Although not really sure if I will re-visit EBM very often, I will keep eye on this projekt. And you should too. In world where radio frequencies are full of idiotic substandard attempts of “music”, this one is a balsam for ears of anyone who can appreciate some great tunes.