Rico

For the uninitiated, this is very good news. If every British act had his ideals, his perfectionism and his hit-to-shit ratio, we'd be enjoying 'Downward Spiral's and 'Mellon Collie's from our own hands every day of the damn week.

- New Noise Net

Sounding more in tune with industrial godfather Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and maybe electro pioneer Gary Numan (especially his later period), this album is a swirling mix of seething electronics, harsh guitar thrashing and snarling vocals. - Q Magazine

Rico has been compared to Kurt Cobain, Tom Waits and Trent Reznor and produces industrial electro-Goth Metal that sounds like Gary Numan meets Sisters Of Mercy. His new album ‘Violent Silences’ features a host of blistering tracks including a mental cover of the Talking Heads’ classic ‘Psycho Killer’. Massive. - HMV

RICO-Violent Silences (Manufractured/Artful) GLASWEGIAN Rico’s second album is a loud, aggressive blend of hard, fast, thrashing guitars and thumping electronics. Think of Nine Inch Nails or recent Gary Numan, but with a touch more Gothic rock and lyrics delivered with a sneer. Perfect for teenage boys to scare their parents with, although, unlike a lot of his peers, Rico never forgets to include a tune. When he declares that the album is “a dawn raid on the hit parade” in the opening track, he might be right. - The Times-London

METAL UK
Rico - Violent Silences
Manufractured/Artful - 12 July 2004
Publication date: 10 July 2004, 09:13:03 | Author: Stuart A Hamilton
Not to be confused with the Marc Almond & Foetus album of the same name, this is the (long) overdue follow up to the 1999 release, "Sanctuary Medicines", although he has spawned a few singles since then, including a brief collaboration with Tricky, and the hit, "Crazier". Those of you who can remember all the way back to 1999/2000 may also recall Rico from such tours as two U.K. headline tours, supporting The Fall (aah), dates with Cyclefly, a U.K. and European Tour with Therapy? and visits to T in the Park and Reading and Leeds music festivals.

However, these days, he's parted with Chrysalis Records, set up his own label, and is about to try and do it all over again. Rico inhabits that strange netherworld inbetween metal and electronica, churning out riffs before heading back into the Reznor patented world of dark bleep.

"Dawn Raid" is an absolutely astonishing opener, one of the best tracks you'll hear this year, blasting out power chords, bass riffs and a great chorus. It's awesome, and well worth the price of admission. A funky Stabbing Westward, if that isn't too freaky a concept.

"Recommended Dose" is very "Faith Healer" as done by Recoil, and this is where things really start to get dark and dirty. Listen to that violin riff, and try not to look over your shoulder. "Psycho Killer" is a cover of the Talking Heads track, and with Talking Heads being in my Top 10 reviled bands of all time, even I was surprised to find myself loosening the straitjacket for a bit of a twisted electropunk boogie.

The Gary Numan augmented hit comes next, "Crazier" in remixed format, although if memory serves, it wasn't as bleak in its original format. From "Kickback" onwards, there's a few rock by rote tracks, but "Garden Man" is an extremely scary song, with some weird and wonderful chords, leading to a couple of nightmares round my way.

Overall, this is an excellent release, if sometime derivative, but Rico usually manages to transcend his influences to give the listener something new to listen to. Although, as he says;

"I don't really concern myself with how I'm going to be perceived. What's the point? I can't really do anything about it anyway. I tend to use elements from many different areas in music and although it doesn't really suit the industry if you don't fit in a particular box, I find it perversely more enjoyable."

Which sums it up rather well. Rock meets electronica meets goth meets punk, all ganging up to give moribund music a good kick round the head.
- Metal UK