I Killed Techno! - Don't Dream In The Grave (review)
The most refined album from the RGV’s horror raconteur. An ambitiously concentrated approach that leaves no room for gimmicks.
Score 8/10
After a delayed and slow rollout of I Killed Techno!’s newest set of gruesome tales, we can finally appreciate the time and meticulous tinkering that went into this electropunk bloodbath. At its core, it’s the IKT we’ve come to know as he’s released music in three different decades. Now, there’s an unexpected level of sophistication to his signature lo-fi electronics and b-movie horror tributes.
The serrated synths buzz with thicker effects, the layering and arrangements build and wane with theatrical prowess, and his scratchy shrieks and deadpan narration are more haunting than ever. With eight proper songs that share enough theme and sound for cohesion, and enough distinction between them for sustained interest, it’s IKT’s best album.
Crude d-beat drums and piercing crash cymbals rev up “The Devil’s Dorm Room” and “One Day at Horrorland.” High-octane industrial rock ignites the bloodcurdling album opener “The Lake of Satan’s Vampires.” The most jarring moment is the beautifully ugly organ intro of “The Night He Came Home,” before we hear his best vocal performance as he screams with agonized catharsis.
The slow burners of the album have the highest horror factor. The creeping anticipation that builds in “The Ghost of Michael Cera’s Ghost” is psychedelic and surreal, while the echoey and glitchy “Do Not Resurrect” sounds like impending danger and cold sweats.
Even the two singles that were released last year — the lurking “Revenge of the Undead” and the propulsive “Watch The Skies” — sound even better within the context and flow of the album.
His stories feature archetypal monsters, from the restless undead, to inescapable boogeymen, and vampires cursed with an eternity of suffering and perpetual thirst. There are mentions of murder, revenge, feeding on blood, dark prophesies, and curses. There’s even criticism on our faux democracy, where debt follows us to our graves while the system lives on: “we pay taxes for the coffins we sleep in.” It can seem gimmicky at first glance, but with his sharp execution and dedication to his niche, it feels genuine and darkly profound. “A toast to the man of today,” he bluntly signs off after all the music ceases in the closing seconds of the album, “and the corpse of tomorrow.”
The upgrade in production and scope doesn’t degrade IKT’s campy ethos. The canned strings and murky effects just sound more cinematic, and the absurd violence reinforces his raw expression. These grisly scenes feel all the more fun and vibrant for it, and isn’t that what horror is about? Vicariously confronting all that is macabre, activating a fight-or-flight rush that reminds us that we’re alive.
Score: 8/10
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