lambchops's Full Review: Empty by God Lives Underwater
Empty? Maybe that is an appropriate title for this 1995 debut from the Pennsylvanian industrial/electronica rockers God Lives Underwater.
It is clear where the band got their influences. Depeche Mode, nine inch nails, and even Alice In Chains are all bands to whom God Lives Underwater owes a great deal of gratitude. Not that these ties have actually aided the band in becoming even moderately famous. In fact, their closest brush with fame came in 1998 with the modest hit From Your Mouth. That song in actuality was the only real identifiable touch point I had before purchasing this truly underwhelming debut.
As mentioned, God Lives Underwater rose from rural Pennsylvania at the hands of two childhood friends—Jeff Turzo and David Reilly. The two got their start when they were culled by legendary rock producer Rick Rubin. Unfortunately, even with the guidance of Rubin the two came off as little more than mere copycats from the start. It is clear that they do indeed have talent, but it is deeply buried beneath layers of neatly tailored noise. Noise is fine enough—heck I adore noisy records—but not when they are this heavily refined.
God Lives Underwater kicks off their debut with Still, an industrial track clearly influenced by the much more focused Trent Reznor. It begins fine enough with whirrs and synths. But once Reilly breaks in with his nasally rattling vocals it is clear the song loses all motivation. It is repetitive and boring. All Wrong cuts back drastically on the heavy production and guitars and leaves Reilly alone out front for much of the time. It is a moderately better effort, but still lacks the spark that makes for a great song regardless of genre.
Empty makes a turn for the better (for once) with Fool. Funny thing is that today, tons of similar songs appear on the radio. It sounds remarkably like any number of current radio soundalikes ranging from Gravity Kills to Stabbing Westward and everything (however little) in between. I have to also mention that these are not necessarily positive comparisons. God Lives Underwater sounds great here, but the synthesized keyboards do indeed become tiresome as the song wears on. It just happens that this is a better effort than some of the others.
Empty once again places the band in the subpar category. Reilly’s voice is exceedingly annoying and when paired with the heavily engineered synths it drones on unmercifully. Empty is the kind of album you can pop in your stereo on the long commute home and forget that it is playing. It just blends into the road noise with indistinctive noise. This is where I can really play up comparisons to the aforementioned extremely lackluster Stabbing Westward.
The album doesn’t really pick up any as it progresses (unfortunately). Don’t Know How To Be blends into the woodwork. Industrial music is meant to be heavy, but it just comes off instead as a mainstream bastardization of the genre. Ditto for the whizzing and whirring rock/dance track No More Love. But there is at least something good I can say for it…it picks up the pace with quicker rhythms. The band seems more at home here despite the fact that most of the other songs are painfully midtempo.
23 is without question an album standout. Loops of guitars and synths are at the forefront and Reilly’s vocals take a backseat. It feels darker and more thoughtful, but with that said it also is extremely mainstream feeling for an “industrial” act (if that indeed is the proper category to slap the band). If one song will appeal to a wide-ish audience, it is certainly this one. Expanding on the same theme, the album closer Scared is also understated and acoustic. It is a fascinating way for God Lives Underwater to finish up their record. The placement of this song is certainly a reflection of the fact it is an atypical offering. It would have been better toward the front, but it would have ruined their reputation. Or not. It’s hard to ruin something that’s yet to develop.
Toward the end of the album more of the same repetitive, cliché industrial drivel can be found. We Were Wrong, Weaken, and Tortoise do very little for me. Though I do find some small bit of merit in the thick grrrr of Tortoise. Throughout Empty small flashes of possible talent can be witnessed, but save for a track or three very little of this is explored consistently or in any depth.
Empty is an appropriate title for the overall very sterile, very hollow feeling disc. God Lived Underwater has since returned just once in 1998 with a better album titled Life In The So-Called Space Age. Also available is the band’s self-titled debut EP released only a few months before Empty and was all tolled all too similar to that album to make it even slightly compelling.
Rating: 2/5 stars
Track Listing:
1. Still
2. All Wrong
3. Fool
4. Empty
5. Don't Know How to Be
6. No More Love
7. 23
8. We Were Wrong
9. Weaken
10. Tortoise
11. Scared
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