R.E.Flexxx

With fuck all else to do in Peterborough, it’s not surprising that a home studio album from R.E.Flexxx (aka Rob Howard), would be so good. His debut album could easily put him on the right track to be in the leagues of other notable Canadian industrial bands Download, Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly. However, he fuses more elements of Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson into Freaks for Fun to make it very cool and modernistic. A perfect example is opener “Down,” which has an industrial sound lingering in the background, while a metal Zombie-fied guitar takes centre stage. He doesn’t one up Zombie, but he does come pretty damn close. The screeching Manson vocals should hook you. The lightening fast pace on instrumental “Shark Attack” creates a Jaws-like hysteria with its fast guitar hooked around some pretty mean industrial strength sounds. Not content to keep the music in a NIN meets Manson groove, “Weeks” has a few gothic moments. Now all Howard needs is an image to go with this album and he’s all set. The first step would be to leave Peterborough behind, and indulge in some live shows.