CD, Crunch Pod, 2009
www.myspace.com/uberbyte
As difficult as it is to take seriously anything with a name that conjures up childhood fears of orthodontics, facial prostheses and the associated lack of ‘cool’ said devices bring, a conscious effort was made with UberByte’s “Dos” album. Great cover art does help somewhat, though.
One can almost be forgiven for likening this offering to a kind of UK-based clone of scene favourites Combichrist. Personally, I find it difficult to equate any intelligent reaction to nymphomaniac, drug-addled four-to-the-floor stuff like this: hovering in a semi-limbo between the crushing power of industrial and the discordant dance fever of harsh electro, with lyrics designed purely to antagonise parents, music like this may be great drunken fun at parties and clubs, but it’s way too puerile to be seen in any vein other than that. You can dance to it, you can’t really pay attention to it, and you definitely can’t ignore it buzzing its way through your skull. If ever there was a musical hangover in the works, it would be artists like UberByte that dredged it from the depths of sonic hell.
That’s not to say there is no appeal in this album: “Dos” may not be clever (even in the mocking, self-deprecating fashion perfected by fellow Crunch Pod noise purveyors Alter der Ruine), it may not be original and it may not be the best production quality available in an oversaturated genre, but it is fun. This is musical entertainment for those of a darker bent, but not too dark to preclude having a sense of humour.
So lace up your boots, don your leathers and get severely inebriated before shuffling through the quasi-rhythmic motions of your latest stomping dance moves to UberByte’s second album – and don’t worry about making a fool of yourself, because everyone else on the dance floor will be doing exactly the same thing.
[5.5/10]
— David vander Merwe