The Cassandra Complex - Sex & Death (1993)

The darkwave unit the Cassandra Complex formed in 1980 with Paul Dillion and Rodney Orpheus, a musically inspired duo in search of playing to big music events, specifically tagged "complex events." Andrew Booth, who was formerly a journalist who interviewed the Cassandra Complex, was asked to join the group and the Cassandra Complex was officially a trio rearing the industrial-dance sounds laid underground during the early '80s.

Throughout the '80s, the band was signed to the independent label, Rouska Records. Releasing a set of 12" singles, the Cassandra Complex became a familiar favorite among the goth rock crowd, but changes were quickly occurring within the makeup of the band. Dillion left the group toward the end of the decade, being replaced by Jez Willis, Keith Langley, and John Marchini. Volker Zacharias of Girls Under Glass also joined in 1990.

As the mid-'90s approached, the Cassandra Complex already had a slew of releases to their name: Theomania (1988), Satan, Bugs Bunny and Me (1989), Cyberpunx (1990), The War Against Sleep (1991), and Sex & Death (1994). In 1995, Orpheus hooked up with Patricia Nigiani and Marcus Giltes for a side project called Sun God while balancing the Cassandra Complex. Still undeterred by his various projects, Orpheus pushed the newly directed goth-industrial sounds of the Cassandra Complex in the direction of playing festivals across Europe. Two years later, the band began working on Wetware, their first for Metropolis Records, which was released in fall 2000.

"Sex & Death was in many ways a return to basics for us. We had finished building the studio that we’d begun during the recording of The War Against Sleep and were starting to get comfortable with working in a new way. I’d spent a quite a bit of time in America beforehand and put together a lot of the ideas when I was there; and I also bought my first Macintosh at that time, which changed our lives completely… Thanks to Neal Johnson (former Apple employee) for that. With Sex & Death we wanted to make a record without any subtlety whatsoever, an album that just got down to the most brutal and basic of human emotions – hence the title. I took as my motif the figure of the serial killer, and many of the songs are seen through the eyes of this protagonist. I suppose I should admit that I was also heavily influenced by Bret Easton Ellis‘ brilliant novel American Psycho, which I think everyone in the world should read."
  http://cassandracomplex.co.uk/?page_id=38

1 Kneel (To The Boss)
2 Mouth Of Heaven
3 The War Against Sleep
4 Come Out
5 Satisfy Me
6 Give Me What I Need
7 Devil's Advocate
8 You Make Me Sick
9 Voices
10 Realm Of The Senseless
11 Frankie Teardrop
12 4'33"
13 You Make Me Sick (Version)