CD, Fich-Art, 2007
www.eva3.co.uk
Amongst the large amount of releases into the current industrial scene, only a very few artists and records can be described as really original. This debut album from Eva | 3 (aka Paul Lavigne, who was already known for his several appearances on compilations) is one of those.
As a matter of fact, this record fits perfeclty into the industrial genre, but it brings a whole range of influences, from industrial techno to power noise and even digital punk (the female singer, Riotmiloo from the punk band The Venom Seeds, sings on the track “Sweet Abuse” and is also a member of Eva|3’s live line-up). The opening track, “Low Secret Dreams”, contains a filmic dark atmosphere and a minimalist piano part, which work really great as an intro before the rest of the album burst into industrial madness, sometimes with pounding beats on tracks such as “Attraction<>Repulsion” and “Isocele”, sometimes with abrasive textures on the noisy and disturbing track “Little Inside so Addicted”.
The whole record is very well produced and has a very clear mix, which is not easy to obtain in this kind of music, and allow the listener to notice all kind of subtleties and weird little sounds. It also contributes widely to create this immersion into a nightmare-like world, this discomfortable feeling that you can’t get rid of while listening to Eva | 3’s music. Paul Lavigne also got a little help from his friends on this record, as three of its ten tracks (“Crawling”, “At First Sight” and “Sweet Abuse”) has been remixed by some very renowned artists of the industrial scene, respectively Asche (who also run the label Fich-Art on which the album has been released), Lith, and Phillip Münch (from Synapscape, The Rorschach Garden and Monokrom).
To sum things up, I would say that “The Great Divide” was undoubtedly one of the most interesting releases of 2007 in the industrial scene and that Eva|3 is a promising newcomer you should start paying attention to. If you still haven’t, believe me and give it a try, you won’t be disappointed!
[7/10]
— Olivier Noel