official Covenant Forum

when you speak of 'Industrial' what sounds do you have in mind?

You would be surprised!!!!
We aren’t as uneducated in England as it may appear – honest!! :lol:!!!
And I have followed the European (largely German, Belgian, and Scandinavian) industrial scene for at least 15 years – so I have a pretty good background. I would guess that we probably know a lot of the same stuff really!!!!
But I do agree that, certainly with regard to ‘Dreams’ and ‘Europa,’ there is a definite industrial overtone to those albums – the influences are discernible – and in truth, considering the musical eras that the guys have lived through, and the genres that have attracted them most strongly, surely it is impossible that some iota of influence from the industrial sound hasn’t filtered through to their music?
In the interview that Joakim did on Padernoir he said that their three strongest influences were electronica (circa Kraftwerk and the 80’s British synthpop scene), EBM (ala Nitzer Ebb) and the Techno sound of the early 90’s – so yeah on that basis your assertion of a hardtrance/ speedcore edge wouldn’t be far short of the mark!!!!
I certainly think that the use of samples and the syncopation on Dreams speaks quite strongly of an industrial influence – to some extent the strong rhythm driven music, and the slightly buried vocals also owe their origin to some of the early industrial acts. It indicates the use of the voice as another instrument to be layered into the music, rather than to sit on top of it, as a lot of other musical styles tend to do. This I think is very much a technique adopted by many industrial acts.

Zitat

Originally posted by Evolutz
@cyberdreamsgirl:

ok, you´re an oldtimer in electronica... I´m into Electronic Music for maybe
ten years now and it´s quite funny that it all startet with "Prodigy" when I was
14... it´s been a long way from jungle/breakbeat to the EBM-familiy...

I´m really impressed by your deep knowledge of this theme... you wrote what I can barely express in German...and I can´t but say that I´m d´accord with you.

The voice as an instrument : I wasn´t really aware of that, only subconscious,
but it´s a fact. Maybe that´s the reason why I think that Covenant is somewhat
different from most other styles...(for example "Prodigy" - in their tracks the lyrics are always on top of the music - even on their latest album).

But I´d say that in former times (before music had any electronic influences)
the voice and the instruments must have been more equal.
Just think of tribal music in which the beat is mostly dominating...

Maybe the invention of the microphone made the voice the most important instrument?

The voice has always been an instrument and Covenant, like most modern industrial acts, tend to alter it with technology, just like you'd alter any other instrument with effects. I do this all the time in my music. I never treat the vocals as more or less important than the music. I want vocals and music to be one thing. And I think that is what Covenant wants too.

About the influences of Covenant, I don't care about them because Covenant has its own unique style. Noise, rhythms and melodies are the most important, if not most overlying and most noteworthy, aspect of their music. The rhythms and the sounds of Covenant is what I noticed that got me into them.

I personally started going into EBM by listening to Prodigy as well, and lots of trance and techno music during the 90's. But it was Apoptygma Berzerk that really got me into the underground scene that is EBM and industrial. Covenant has a more distinct style, where Apop is a bit more of a bastardly band, in the sense that they have a more mixed sound nowadays with guitars and live drums. Covenant has always seemed to be a purist's paradise. No acoustic or classic instruments, but using technology and synthesizers to digitally replicate real sounds, or creating entirely new sounds, as well as incorporating real world sounds and processing them digitally to glide in with the music and create a texture and atmosphere that to me is unique for Covenant. The noise is also a very major component and to me, using noise makes a very harsh atmosphere in the music, without necessarily using acoustic instruments digitally processed, such as guitars. Pure electronic noise is something I am a big fan of. I personally use white noise generators all the time in my music to create digital drum sounds, mostly inspired by early video games where you'd create realistic sounding sounds by applying filters to a white noise generator on the chip.

But I digress, Covenant is unique. Whatever their influences are, it's rather irrelevant to me.

That was very articulate!

Spot on as well.

:cool:

Industrial and techno are very loose terms. It seems whenever people hear a band using exclusively electronic equipment, they immediately refer to it as either "trance" or "techno", regardless of the style it's in. I hear people who have even referred to Covenant as being "dance music", clearly not paying attention to either the poetic lyrics, or the many layers that texturize the sound of Covenant.

When I saw this thread I decided to have a look at my (far too big and disorganised) record collection and write down some of the bands/artists that has made a strong impression on me/us over the years.

It's a mess, in random order and importance, but it may give a little glimpse of the stuff that has inspired us over the years:

NON, Cabaret Voltaire, Can, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Fad Gadget, OMD, Human League, Brighter Death Now, Genocide Organ, Joy Division, Test Department, Whitehouse, The Cure, Kissing The Pink, Depeche Mode, Sunn O))), Esplendor Geometrico, Front 242, Public Enemy, Africa Bambaata, Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, Bach, Steve Reich, Brian Eno, Lee Perry, Laurie Anderson, Velvet Underground, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Beethoven, Frank Zappa, YMO, Lassigue Bendthaus, Nitzer Ebb, Plastikman/Richie Hawtin, Underground Resistance, Boyd Rice, Dive, Imminent Starvation, Abba, Visage, Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Sweet, T-Rex, Death In June, The Flaming Lips, Daft Punk, Dead Can Dance, Swedish folk music, Television, Nick Cave, Einstürzende Neubauten, Black Sabbath, Sugarhill Gang, Alva Noto, William S. Burroughs, The Fall, Coil, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Pink Floyd, Sly & Robbie, Nick Drake, Vangelis, Bruce Springsteen, Merzbow, The Jesus and Marychain, SPK, Winterkälte, Noisex, Aphex Twin, Anthony Rother, Funkstörung, Pan Sonic, Speedy J, Skinny Puppy, Sophie Rimheden, Autechre, Kid 606, Tom Waits, Terence Fixmer, Thomas P. Heckman, Ellen Allien, Landscape, Suicide, Tangerine Dream, Devo, Talking Heads, Roxy Music, Bauhaus, The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy, David Bowie, LCD Soundsystem, Funkadelic/Parliament, Curtis Mayfield, T. Raumschmiere, Biosphere, Fatboy Slim, Madonna, Rechenzentrum, Akufen, Beta Band, Goldfrapp, Jane's Addiction, Radiohead, Slowdive, Spiritualized, Robert Johnson, Jean-Michel Jarre, Leonard Cohen, The Beatles, Lee Hazlewood, Johnny Cash, Atom Heart, 16 Horsepower/Woven Hand, DJ Hell, Underworld, DAF, Liaisons Dangereuses, The Knife, Warren Suicide, Yello, DMX Krew, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, lots of nameless Gabber from Holland, David Carretta, Superpitcher, Thomas Fehlmann, Lali Puna, Green Velvet, Robert Görl, Missy Elliott, St Germain, Squarepusher, Antony & the Johnsons, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Primal Scream, Loop, Joey Beltram, Thomas Krome, Jeff Mills, Håkan Lidbo, Adam Beyer, Muslimgauze, The Specials, LFO, Refused, The KLF, Scanner, Sheila Chandra, Peter Gabriel, Clock DVA, Laibach, Dizzee Rascal, Air, Kate Bush, The Smiths, The Pixies, Tindersticks, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Bob Dylan, Barry Adamson, Soft Cell, Ultravox, The Orb, Orbital, Monolake, Boards of Canada, The Future Sound of London, Circlesquare, Sonic Youth, Mantronix, Beck, Khonnor, Boom Bip, Massive Attack, Portishead, New Order, Burt Bacharach, Skream, Digital Mystikz, Loefah, Vex'd, Justice, Klaxons, Feadz, Juno Reactor, Björk, The The, Ry Cooder, Add N to (X), DJ Shadow, The Idealist, Gary Numan/Tubeway Army, Gnarls Barkley, Burial, Arvo Pärt....

...and probably several hundred more.

edit: spelling errrors
edit 2: damn you Sharon!

Listening to lots of different music always makes way for making unique music, since one will automatically incorporate most of the different influences into the crafting of the music, and create something new and unique. Though of course, we all choose which elements we want to incorporate.

hehehe! wow!

ooooohh, Godspeed! *searching my hdd for the respective mp3-folder*
The dead flag blues!

I've listened to everything from rock to hiphop almost. Also a lot of underground chipmusic(music made with early 8bit video game systems or microcomputers). I have a very rich childhood musically

Miles "Davies"?

Zitat

Originally posted by Joakim
When I saw this thread I decided to have a look at my (far too big and disorganised) record collection and write down some of the bands/artists that has made a strong impression on me/us over the years.

It's a mess, in random order and importance, but it may give a little glimpse of the stuff that has inspired us over the years:

NON, Cabaret Voltaire, Can, Neu!, Kraftwerk, Fad Gadget, OMD, Human League, Brighter Death Now, Genocide Organ, Joy Division, Test Department, Whitehouse, The Cure, Kissing The Pink, Depeche Mode, Sunn O))), Esplendor Geometrico, Front 242, Public Enemy, Africa Bambaata, Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, Bach, Steve Reich, Brian Eno, Lee Perry, Laurie Anderson, Velvet Underground, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Beethoven, Frank Zappa, YMO, Lassigue Bendthaus, Nitzer Ebb, Plastikman/Richie Hawtin, Underground Resistance, Boyd Rice, Dive, Imminent Starvation, Abba, Visage, Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Sweet, T-Rex, Death In June, The Flaming Lips, Daft Punk, Dead Can Dance, Swedish folk music, Television, Nick Cave, Einstürzende Neubauten, Black Sabbath, Sugarhill Gang, Alva Noto, William S. Burroughs, The Fall, Coil, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Pink Floyd, Sly & Robbie, Nick Drake, Vangelis, Bruce Springsteen, Merzbow, The Jesus and Marychain, SPK, Winterkälte, Noisex, Aphex Twin, Anthony Rother, Funkstörung, Pan Sonic, Speedy J, Skinny Puppy, Sophie Rimheden, Autechre, Kid 606, Tom Waits, Terence Fixmer, Thomas P. Heckman, Ellen Allien, Landscape, Suicide, Tangerine Dream, Devo, Talking Heads, Roxy Music, Bauhaus, The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy, David Bowie, LCD Soundsystem, Funkadelic/Parliament, Curtis Mayfield, T. Raumschmiere, Biosphere, Fatboy Slim, Madonna, Rechenzentrum, Akufen, Beta Band, Goldfrapp, Jane's Addiction, Radiohead, Slowdive, Spiritualized, Robert Johnson, Jean-Michel Jarre, Leonard Cohen, The Beatles, Lee Hazlewood, Johnny Cash, Atom Heart, 16 Horsepower/Woven Hand, DJ Hell, Underworld, DAF, Liaisons Dangereuses, The Knife, Warren Suicide, Yello, DMX Krew, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, lots of nameless Gabber from Holland, David Carretta, Superpitcher, Thomas Fehlmann, Lali Puna, Green Velvet, Robert Görl, Missy Elliott, St Germain, Squarepusher, Antony & the Johnsons, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Primal Scream, Loop, Joey Beltram, Thomas Krome, Jeff Mills, Håkan Lidbo, Adam Beyer, Muslimgauze, The Specials, LFO, Refused, The KLF, Scanner, Sheila Chandra, Peter Gabriel, Clock DVA, Laibach, Dizzee Rascal, Air, Kate Bush, The Smiths, The Pixies, Tindersticks, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Bob Dylan, Barry Adamson, Soft Cell, Ultravox, The Orb, Orbital, Monolake, Boards of Canada, The Future Sound of London, Circlesquare, Sonic Youth, Mantronix, Beck, Khonnor, Boom Bip, Massive Attack, Portishead, New Order, Burt Bacharach, Skream, Digital Mystikz, Loefah, Vex'd, Justice, Klaxons, Feadz, Juno Reactor, Björk, The The, Ry Cooder, Add N to (X), DJ Shadow, The Idealist, Gary Numan/Tubeway Army, Gnarls Barkley, Burial, Arvo Pärt....

...and probably several hundred more.

That's only a part of it? Wow. Very impressive.

Beta Band! The music video to Assessment is pure genius. I need to go watch it now.

More than half of these bands I don´t know :sch:

.... but there is one legend for me, who is in Joakims list (visage,ultravox), who was able to bring the crowd to weep their tears....thinking on old times....

here is a sample of his performance (acoustic-concert 26/05/2007 in Leipzig):
EDIT by covenant_girl: link deleted! (filesharing)

He has still a very good voice :-]

really awsome collection of different bands an genres. it is cool you're not just sticking to one musical direction

Zitat

Originally posted by Black_Cat
really awsome collection of different bands an genres. it is cool you're not just sticking to one musical direction

As I said, rich musical influence makes way for more varied musical interpretation.

Oh, nice! Glad to see this thread open again. Seeing as one of the most amazing concerts I've ever been to was by Godspeed You Black Emperor, it struck me right away. Nice to see a list that is progressive, in my opinion, as it is open. :perfekt:

Also made me sad I didn't go see Green Velvet/Cajmere (again) tonight ... he's been a tremendous inspiration to me in my life and is an amazing person. Lucky me that he's always putting on shows at a nearby club but unfortunately the crowd that goes there is rather unfriendly and intolerant, which is why I opted to play at my usual spot instead. If I were to ever pursue DJing as a career, I would hope to achieve the type of mix of sounds and genres he has as Green Velvet.

I'm slowly converting my music collection into digital files (it's a space issue) and I'm still not done at 181GB. Very few people I know understand why my 60GB iPod is a mixed blessing in my life. Still trying to figure out how to get this video of A Plus D's Hollaback Headhunter on there, which will eventually have to replace the few Strongbad E-mails I have on there to cheer me up when work has me too stressed out.

Zitat

Originally posted by lushmachine
Oh, nice! Glad to see this thread open again. Seeing as one of the most amazing concerts I've ever been to was by Godspeed You Black Emperor, it struck me right away. Nice to see a list that is progressive, in my opinion, as it is open. :perfekt:

Also made me sad I didn't go see Green Velvet/Cajmere (again) tonight ... he's been a tremendous inspiration to me in my life and is an amazing person. Lucky me that he's always putting on shows at a nearby club but unfortunately the crowd that goes there is rather unfriendly and intolerant, which is why I opted to play at my usual spot instead. If I were to ever pursue DJing as a career, I would hope to achieve the type of mix of sounds and genres he has as Green Velvet.

I'm slowly converting my music collection into digital files (it's a space issue) and I'm still not done at 181GB. Very few people I know understand why my 60GB iPod is a mixed blessing in my life. Still trying to figure out how to get this video of A Plus D's Hollaback Headhunter on there, which will eventually have to replace the few Strongbad E-mails I have on there to cheer me up when work has me too stressed out.

I've never converted my entire CD collection to digital files since I only have a 30 gig hard drive and a 1 gig Creative Zen.

Zitat

Originally posted by xonic-64
I've never converted my entire CD collection to digital files since I only have a 30 gig hard drive and a 1 gig Creative Zen.

Ah, well, if you ever decide to do so I recommend one of these external drive to store it onto, but it's best to keep them in multiple smaller drives rather than everything on just one huge one.