
X Marks The Pedwalk
X Marks the Pedwalk have been a mainstay of the Zoth Ommog label since the beginning of the decade. Their debut full length recording, 1991's Freaks (released domestically by Metropolis Records in the summer of 1998), immediately established the duo (then consisting of Sevren Ni-Arb [read "brain nerves"] and Regan Eracs) as a major force in the newly emerging industrial dance genre. The band's sound was infectious: steady cold beats augmented with bouncing sequencers, moderately distorted vocals, and peppered with highly effective voice samples.
By 1993, Sevren had become involved in no less than four side projects, with singles or CDs released under the names A-Head, U-Tek, Blind Vision, and Ringtailed Snorter, with stylings ranging from more mainstream electro to moody synthetic soundscapes.
The next XMTP CD, Human Desolation, was the first to feature Raive Yarx assisting on keys instead of Eracs, and was the first to garner a North American release. This CD was not as harsh as its predecessor, and cemented what became known as the XMTP sound. This style was carried over to their next release, 1994"s The Killing Had Begun.
1995 saw the release of two CDs compiling all of the band's singles: Abattoir and Four Fit, as well as the start of a new direction for the band with the band's maxi-single, Facer. This four song EP was the first to incorporate elements of mainstream techno into their established style, which gave many listeners (who were expecting "Human Desolation Part 3") a bit of a shock before adaptation set in. This new style carried over into 1996's Meshwork, which was met with cries of approval throughout the hard electro scene.
1998s Drawback was X Marks the Pedwalk's first release on Metropolis Records, a CD which took the Meshwork approach to electro and fused it with the percolative and harsher stylings of Human Desolation, resulting in music that more thoroughly embraced all of XMTP's stylistic attributes. Following its release, Metropolis re-released Freaks as Freaks+.
For 1999, Retrospective, a sampling of Ni Arb's work to date, was issued just before the band went dormant at the peak of the acts creative output.
Now, over a decade later, the legend returns! Inner Zone Journey shows that the musical genius of XMTP mastermind Sevren Ni-Arb has not dulled over time. Never an act to rest on its creative laurels, Inner Zone Journey is just that, a progressive musical document of self exploration.
Playlist
| track | album | listen |
|---|---|---|
| Runaway | Inner Zone Journey | |
| Seventeen | Inner Zone Journey | |
| Lifeline | Inner Zone Journey | |
| Clean Hearts | Inner Zone Journey |
Discography
| THE SUN, THE COLD AND MY UNDERWATER FEAR · MET 818D· 1. You Are Gone 2. Don't Lie To Me 3. The Day I Start To Die 4. The Side Of The Wrong 5. Nighfall 6. The Sun, The Cold, My Underwater Fear 7. Fallen Angel 8. Electric Summer 9. Tormented Skin 10. No! 11. Run! Run! Mary! 12. MKK.2 13. A.I.C.S.I.N. | |
| THE SUN, THE COLD AND MY UNDERWATER FEAR · MET 818· 1. You Are Gone 2. Don't Lie To Me 3. The Day I Start To Die 4. The Side Of The Wrong 5. Nightfall 6. The Sun, The Cold, My Underwater Fear 7. Fallen Angel 8. Electric Summer 9. Tormented Skin 10. No! 11. Run! Run! Mary! 12. MKK.2 13. A.I.C.S.I.N. | |
| INNER ZONE JOURNEY · MET 648D· 1. Lifeline 2. Runaway 3. Obscure Reason 4. Satellite 5. Seventeen 6. Winter Comes Tomorrow 7. Human Scientists 8. Clean Hearts 9. Stripped By Tears 10. Snapshots In A Dark Room 11. Distant Rain | |
| INNER ZONE JOURNEY · MET 648· 1. Lifeline 2. Runaway 3. Obscure Reason 4. Satellite 5. Seventeen 6. Winter Comes Tomorrow 7. Human Scientists 8. Clean Hearts 9. Stripped By Tears 10. Snapshots In A Dark Room 11. Distant Rain | |
| RETROSPECTIVE · MET 133· 1. Facer 2. Abbatoir (Razormaid Mix) 3. Drawback 4. Never Look Back 5. Monomaniac (Mix) 6. Maximum Pace 7. Paranoid Illusions 8. I Promise You A Murder 9. Wipe No Tears 10. Arbitrary Execution 11. Ten Miles 12. No Premenition 13. Look On The Side 14. Sweep Hand (Timeless) | |
| FREAKS + · MET 092· 1. Zest 2. Repression 3. Swastika 4. Express My Sentiments Exactly 5. The Shot 6. Helpless 7. Battered Babies 8. Church For White Snow 9. Epilogue : Desert In Dawn 10. Feast Of The The Resurrection 11. I See You (Second View) 12. No Premenition (Re-Edit) 13. Paranois Illusions (Sky Mix) 14. Interruption | |
| DRAWBACK · MET 076· 1. Time Tunnel ./Phase Time Tunnel 2. Maximum Pace 3. W.I.T.I.A.K. 4. Turn of the Tide (Ebb Tide./MX) 5. Time Tunnel ./Phase Two 6. Sweep Hands 7. The Past 8. Turn of the Tide 9. Drawback 10. Sweep Hands (Timeless ./8.0) 11. Clip the Lines 12. MI_X Marks The Pedwalk |
