CD, Syrphe, 2007
www.syrphe.com
“Voluntary Human Extinction” is the first release of Elekore, the collaboration between Singaporean musician Marcos Destructos (also of One Man Nation), Mindfuckingboy and C-drík Fermont (known for his extensive work as Kirdec, Axiome, Moonsanto and many other projects).
Judging from this short album, Elekore is one of the few projects that can be honestly described as electronic punk music, as their music and dedication to it sounds as genuine as it gets and definitely more convincing than some higher-profile acts around. One also gets the impression that Elekore are one of those few acts who are particularly strong on live performances but whose music loses impact in recorded format.
“Didn’t you know dystopia is already here?” opens the album with a concoction of pounding breakbeats, strafing guitar and Marcos’ screaming vocals that whets the listener’s appetite for what is to come. Overall, “Voluntary Human Extinction” lives up to the built expectations: the rhythm sections (which could be a bit more evident at times) remain contagious throughout the album complemented by Mindfuckingboy’s guitar work giving ample support to Marcos Destructos’ defiant vocals. The best example (and the highlight track for me) is perhaps, the musically and politically-charged “Raped In Ways No Other Man Can”.
Also particularly worthy of mention is the closing track, the robotic “Communication Epilogue” which follows in a more noise/industrial vein. “Voluntary Human Extinction” being a very short release, perhaps it could have benefited with the addition of more tracks of this kind which would add some needed diversity and showcase more of Elekore’s musical versatility.
Punk being, by definition, socially-conscious politically-motivated and all the musicians involved in Elekore being activists of some sort, the lyrical themes in found “Voluntary Human Extinction” should not come as a surprise. However, the lyrics do border on a kind of naïveté which reduces some of the impact that they should have, and that that could be due to English not being Marcos Destructos’ first language.
In the end, “Human Voluntary Extinction” is an energetic and genuine release which, if you’re into punk or breakcore, will surely strike a chord with you. If not, it may still be worth checking out to broaden musical horizons.
[7/10]
— Miguel de Sousa