Almost a decade after the demise of the wildly popular summer touring vehicle Lilith Fair which brought many women musicians a great deal of attention and helped to shift the focus of popular music away from men as the dominating creative force and singular voice available we have sadly seen things revert back to the time when women merely served as the titillating eye candy of the music world, mildly interspersed with the machismo and questionably misogynistic leanings of a dominant male culture. Even when a female musician does rise to the top the success seems to be overshadowed by a fascination with erratic and off-putting behavior (i.e. Amy Winehouse). Yet in the past ten years women have assumed an impressively assertive role in the Metal genre though it's less with the aggressive styles and more within the Symphonic/Powermetal microgenres. Electronic music, in particular its more hostile forms, have always seemed to lack a woman's touch and projects such as Erica Dunham's Unter Null are the exception rather than the rule.

Rachel of Experiment Haywire is working to change that. She's put together a new Independent label called machineKUNT which places the focus on female artists creating dark electronics, noise and Industrial. The flagship release, a compilation entitled Extreme Women in the Dark Future, took a year to assemble and features no less than eighteen tracks and over seventy-five minutes of music. It certainly serves as a convincing statement that women have much to contribute to the underground even as it seems few in the scene would have ever held much doubt. If anything this collection will point people in the direction of a great deal of exciting new talent regardless of gender specification.

Compulsory Skin's "Twisted" turns Nine In Nails' "Closer" on its complacent ear with a demanding and dominant performance that features an "Ultra" beat considerably heavier than anything KMFDM has done in the last decade. PiaPale's voice conveys as much grit as it carries weight and will convert anyone to a believer. Neikka RPM's "Umbrae Sub Noctum" features hypnotic cooing and breathy, whispered vocals atop a crisp and trippy rhythm which comes across as strikingly unique. Chiasm balances plaintive singing and understated bass lines with moments of surreal and bombastic percussive bursts on "Deny."

"Eau" is a skittering composition that is equal parts ambient and experimental Electro. While there is little deviation from its minimalist theme, Spanish act N01R ensures there are enough noises at the periphery to sustain interest for three and a half minutes of sonic battery. Regenerator's choppy "Famished" will have you lurching along to its heavy pulses and alluring vocals. The proceedings draw to a close with the cinematically theatrical classicism of Asinyane's "Homocide," a stirring work of beauty and unease.

As with any compilation of this size not everything is going to hit the mark and efforts submitted by Genocidio 1968 and Vicious Alliance are a little too derivative and same-y while the opener, a reworking of "The Little Drummer Boy" by Protea, comes across as less a clever statement and more a disastrous mess of poor timing and gratingly tone-deaf vocalization which is unfortunate considering it's the lead-off track. Yet, considering the sheer volume and diversity of the music presented this is a solid collection that I would highly recommend. Each of the artists here have been granted fertile soil in which to germinate, spreading their music and message throughout every local scene. Extreme Women in the Dark Future is a pleasant surprise and an impressive success in that regard.

See also: Rachel Haywire: The DTC Interview

See also: Review: Remix Riot