Cold Meat Industry CMI 20
2007 is the year Cold Meat Industry reaches the age of 20 and there probably isn't a better time to dive into the CD collection and find a classic from this label. And it is with great honour that I present to you CMI catalog number 20 (how apropriate) the legendary 'Karmanik Collection'. Already fourteen years ago it was released and it was the first widespread CMI release that got "the CMI sound" out to the public.
If you know the Cold Meat label a little bit, you will know that every 10th catalogue number used to be a sampler of some sort; at least until CMI 120. With this solid release of samplers, and very often nice priced or exclusive packaging, Roger Karmanik aka Brighter Death Now, mastermind behind Cold Meat, created an easy way to explore the lesser known names related to Cold Meat to a larger audience.
Look at the tracklist on the 'Karmanik Collection' and you will see two names who had just one release (XXX Atomic Toejam and En Halvkokt I Folie) and one name, being Systema, who only had a few loose tracks released on the label. But take XXX Atomic Toejam of these three, and you hear a fun speedy track with a solid beat and guitars. No surprise if you consider that behind the project are Petter Marklund of Memorandum fame and Fredrik Thordendal, still active in the very well known trash/deathmetal band Meshuggah.
After the opening of the three 'strange ducks' the 'Karmanik Collection' starts to sound like the Cold Meat we all know and love. With the undeniably charateristic sounds of Deutsch Nepal, Brighter Death Now, Ordo Equilibrio, Raison D'être and - off course - In Slaughter Natives. The throbbing heart within the cold meat; the definite core of what Cold Meat is about.
But next to this there is more to be explored on the 'Karmanik Collection'. Like the force that IS Mental Destruction, the tribal beats of Memorandum and the minimalistic approach to death ambient from Archon Satani. Finally the last three tracks - yes, there is still more stuff on this one disc - are reserved for an orchestral synthetical song by Consono, the Raison D'être side-project Atomine Elektine with a track that later would be released on CMI 29 'Elemental Severance' and my personal absolute favorite back then, Morthond. Their track 'Shrivatsa' was only released on the 'Karmanik Collection' and a promotional CD release on Cold Spring.
While relistening the album I envision myself 15 years younger and I see myself driving a car to Lille. I am attending the 1994 Deadly Actions festval to see my heroes from those days. Deutsch Nepal, Brighter Death Now, Mental Destruction and Morthound. The poster still hangs on my wall and the atmosphere is still perfectly caught by this one album, the 'Karmanik Collection'.
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