(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
Bile were among the most extreme ensembles of 1990s industrial music. There were nine of them on the EP Suck Pump (Energy, 1994), the manifesto of their brand of terror. Krztoff, a driving force in New Yorks underground scene, is the (filthiest) soul behind unbalanced, obscene, demonic tracks like I Reject, Ura Fucking Loser, Burnt, and Feeling Like Shit, whose message couldnt be more nihilistic. His speed-metal deviations are worthy of the Ministry. Alongside him, electronic keyboardist Slave composes melodies reminiscent of the Skinny Puppy.
Stabilized as a quintet, Bile sharpen their claws with the album Teknowhore (Energy, 1996) and its breathtaking sequence of extremely unpleasant harmonies. The hammering assault of the title track and the guitar barrages of No I Don't No give a measure (even in decibels) of the rage and disgust compressed into this record. Weather Control, where the band engages in a grotesque dance that fades into metallurgic syncopations, and You Can't Love This, a four-part suite that moves from monstrous chaos to a dreamlike atmosphere and concludes with a macabre apotheosis worthy of death metal, delve into the vilest recesses of the psyche. The long, grandiose delirium of Solitude Is Bliss even calls Type O Negative to mind.
Songs with actual lyrics and melodies are few (perhaps only Habitual Sphere, propelled by jolts of heavy guitars). Some tracks overlay a hellish rhythmic base with post-Varese avant-garde music scenarios, as in No One I Call Friends. The electronics are slimy and rough, the rhythms pachydermic and dizzying, the samples violent and crude. Visions of monsters roaming the post-nuclear rubble and sulfur fumaroles abound. The liner notes rightly advise having a plastic bag handy (to catch vomit) before starting the listening.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
The EP Biledegradable (Out Of Line, 1997) perfects their hybrid
style through a bunch of remixes and covers:
the vocals are death metal, the guitars are speedmetal,
the melodies and the electronics are synth-pop.
The tracks on Krztoff (1999) are leftovers from the Bile records.
Sex Reflex (Bile Style, 1999) was the new Bile album.
Instead of progressing along their original direction of visceral anger and
apocalyptic self-destruction, Bile steered towards cliches.
One can hear echoes of all the acts that have been successful in those
years, from Marilyn Manson to
Gravity Kills, in
Betty Page, Sex Reflex, In League.
Later albums included:
Nightmare Before Krztoff (2000),
Demonic Electronic (2002),
The Copy Machine (2002),
Hate Radio (2009),
Built to Fuck Born to Kill (2014), etc.
