Proving their metal

Published on November 30, 2007

The fusion of heavy metal and electronic may sound dangerous. Despite the risk, French quartet Black Strobe took on the mission over a decade ago and made themselves one of the most important groundbreakers in both the rock and electronica scenes. After discharging numerous singles and EPs, their debut long-play entry "Burn Your Own Church" was released just a few months ago, a record 10 years in the making.

"We just couldn't finish it earlier, that's all," vocalist and programmer Arnaud Rebotini says with a laugh in a brief interview before the show at the Recharge Revelation 5 Global Gathering in Malaysia on October 27. "We spent a lot of time searching and experimenting with sounds. And we have learned to perform live during the past 10 years. A record is useless if you can't play it live."

The debut album definitely surprises long-devoted fans familiar with Black Strobe's early club hits and electrifying tracks like "Innerstrings", "Me and Madonna" as well as their remix version of house DJ Dave Guetta's "The World is Mine".

"Music is music no matter what you call it, it is one to me," Rebotini says. "I know people expect [the album] to be more synth, more danceable even though they are aware we are also a rock band. We put on strong, danceable shows and people anticipate a dance record, but this record is an album you can listen to at home. I wanted to break those rules and have some freedom. We'll always keep the dance part of Black Strobe, but we can't produce everything with electronics. I like it that you're surprised. I like surprises. I like surprising people."

A total flip side of Black Strobe's personality to become more sombre, darker and heavier, "Burn Your Own Church" delivers more rock than jamming synthesisers and break beats. The opening track, "Brenn Di Ega Kjerke" (Norwegian for "burn your own church") brings about heavy metal air with a trail of slight electronic aftertaste while the closing track, "Crave for Speed", includes melodic piano submerged in death metal. Even the electronica is rock, with a cover of rock 'n' roll legend Bo Diddley's "I'm A Man", broken down with colliding synth and Rebotini's gravel vocals.

It's still a record you could dance to, even if your jaw is dropping.

"We'll be touring a lot and some of us are working on side projects. I don't know when the second album is coming out, though. Hopefully not in another 10 years," Rebotini says.

Black Strobe was among a roster of international and Malaysian talents for the fifth annual fete in Malacca, Malaysia. Rebotini took up the TQX Freedom Electric Arena with only drummer Benjamin Beaulieu but the effect was still there, as Black Strobe's 45-minute Asian debut show proved to be one of the heaviest, head-banging shows of the festival.

Though growing up listen to his father's blues, country and rock 'n' roll records, Rebotini started off with his own group with long-time friend, French DJ Ivan Smagghe in the early 1990s, producing mostly dance and acid house tracks.

His love of rock urged him toward electroclash - the combination of rock and electronica. The change in direction prompted an amicable separation between Rebotini and Smagghe, though even then "Burn Your Own Church" was still in the planning stages. Smagghe's influence on the electronic parts is still there and he wrote most of the lyrics before he left.

The album is produced by Paul Epworth, known for his works with Bloc Party, Maximo Park and The Futureheads. Having written the rest of "Burn Your Own Church" in his home studio in Paris, Rebotini and the band recorded it at a studio in West London. The tracks were then remixed by Alan Moulder who previously did the magic on albums by U2, Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson.

Manta Klangboonkrong