Top 10 Power Electronics albums

Power Electronics is a genre I don't listen to much anymore. I discovered it via Navicon Torture Technologies' 2001 album Scenes from the Next Millenium (an excellent "gateway drug" for the genre), fell in love with it, then a few years later lost interest in it. I rarely listen to it nowadays, but there are a few artists and albums that still rock my world. It is for me a genre completely dominated by one artist, and one record label, to an extent rarely seen. Also, yes I am pefectly aware that there is no Whitehouse, Genocide Organ or Con-Dom in this list and no it is not a mistake. I think Whitehouse put on a good live show and I understand their influence and importance but their music doesn't do much for me. Genocide Organ and Con-Dom I do not rate at all. Also: I can't quite explain why, but I don't feel Haus Arafna's "Children of God" counts as power electronics. If it did, it would be on this list, probably around 6 or 7.

10. Brigther Death Now: May All Be Dead (Cold Meat Industry, vinyl release 1998, CD release 2000). I’m much more of a fan of the early Brighter Death Now albums, which were thoroughly death industrial, rather than the harsh noise / power electronics direction that the later albums took. However the first couple of power electronics albums Roger Karmanik put out (May All Be Dead and Innerwar) were pretty good, before the decline set in (Obsessis and 90% of everything after that). It was a close call between those two albums, but May All Be Dead just beat Innerwar with the trump card of hearing crazy Roger scream “I wish I was a little girl!”. Don't tell me that's not super creepy.
9. Control: Control (Malignant / Black Plagve 1999). Thomas Garrison aka Control has been a mainstay of the US power electronics scene for quite some time, and is a solid performer. He’s released albums all over the place, on his own and other labels (he’s even put out a couple of interesting ones on Ant-Zen recently), and most of them don’t disappoint. I really like the first self-titled one released many years ago on the mighty Malignant Records, though. It had a distinctive and interesting tone that got a little lost on later works. Maybe it was Phil Easter’s mastering talents that brought it out? It’s possible. (Interesting trivia: Thomas Garrison has recently become quite respected as a mastering engineer himself, now doing work for Malignant amongst other labels).
8. Propergol: Renegade (Tesco Organisation, 2001). I’ll freely admit that French act Propergol’s albums don’t follow most of the trademarks of power electronics. However, they play at power electronics festivals, they appear on power electronics compilations, and I feel they just belong here. And they are really great. Other releases United States and Program Vengeance are fantastic albums, but the cult classic Renegade stands out from the pack. This is menacing, vicious music, that still has a subtlety that many of the other acts in this style do not understand and cannot replicate.
7. IRM: Oedipus Dethroned (Cold Meat Industry, 2000). This is old-school Swedish power electronics, executed very well. What I like about IRM is that, like Anenzephalia, he doesn’t overdo the distortion on the vocals. OK so maybe it makes it less “PURE” and “TROO” for the posers in their laughable army gear and balaclavas, but I’m happy alienating them anyway. IRM displays more talent in one track than most “cult” power electronics band have in their entire discographies. Apparently his recent works (which I still have yet to get my hands on) are awesome as well. Now that Navicon Torture Technologies has called it quits, IRM is the only really innovative and interesting artist still operating in the genre.
6. Navicon Torture Technologies: Power Romance (Cranial Fracture Recordings, 2002). This strange album has been described as existing in a genre entirely of its own, power romance. I’ll leave the genre debates for people who actually care about what we call things. This is, as Leech intended it, a very emotionally intense album, that switches between creepy, to cathartic, to abrasive, to romantic, to aggressive, quite effortlessly. A bewildering, original and essential album. (I should disclose that I’m a bit biased, since I was honoured to have the opportunity to release this album on my own record label, Cranial Fracture Recordings, many years ago. But it is really amazing).
5. Anenzephalia: Anenzephalia (Cold Meat Industry / Death Factory, 2001). There is a rumor that Anenzephalia are a side project of the overrated Genocide Organ. Completely untrue! Anenzephalia are their own band and stand on their own two feet (I think one of the guys from Genocide Organ helps with live shows or something). Anyway, skip the unimpressive Nohaem ambient album, go past the obligatory "Live in Russia" release every second band seems to put out, and head straight to this self-titled bad boy. This has some of the best vocals and lyrics in the genre, and more bad-arse samples than you can handle. The opening track is subtle but still powerful and very atmospheric (evidence below) Classic!

4. Ex.Order: War Within Breath (Malignant Records, 2001). This project is where the guys from German dark ambient act Inade go to release all their tension. This fine album from Malignant Records pulverises listeners like a Terminator from the future; pulses of deep-fried static noise and barrages of sonic tactical missiles reduce all resistance to smouldering rubble. Completely industrial and completely awesome.
3. Navicon Torture Technologies: Scenes from the Next Millenium (Malignant Records, 2001). This is where it all started for me; the first power electronics album and the first Navicon album I heard. It’s become a cliché, but listening to this utterly brutal and corrosive album really was a life-changing experience. These three top NTT albums stand so far above the rest it is difficult to comprehend the distance. There are 14 tracks here and they are all gold. Why people rate Genocide Organ higher than this material I cannot fathom. This, War Within Breath or Oedipus Dethroned are excellent introductions to the genre.
2. Navicon Torture Technologies: Gospels of the Gash (Malignant Records, 2009). Deciding which of the top two albums gets the number 1 spot was a hard decision. Gospels of the Gash is probably the most diverse NTT album, and one of the most interesting and enjoyable (in the strange way that listening to any NTT is ever enjoyable). This is one of those albums so good that I listen to it very rarely, to make sure I never get sick of it. The fact that it is the final chapter in the amazing career of this artist lends it an additional poignancy.
1. Navicon Torture Technologies: Church of Dead Girls (Malignant Records, 2002). This makes Brighter Death Now's "Innerwar" sound like a Wiggles best-of. If you want to hear the most horrible, intense, hate-filled music anybody has ever created, listen to this album. If you don’t, then don’t go anywhere near this, whatever you do. It will leave permanent scars.