Two members of platinum-selling Gothic electro-rock unit Orgy – who scored big with their 1998 cover of New Order’s “Blue Monday” – Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh are hardly newbies to the dark rock arena: Derakh has a list of producer credits a mile long, having worked with bands like Danzig and Coal Chamber, and Shuck co-wrote Korn’s first hit single “Blind.” But they both lamented the decline in revolutionary and passionate new music from the genre that sustained them for so long. How did they solve this little problem? Read on…

“Why is there no band that’s really rocking my world?” Shuck asks. “I haven’t seen any bands stirring that up, bringing a new look, a new everything, kids buying guitars because they want to sound like that band. I’m not seeing that at all.” So Shuck and Derakh set out to fill that perceived void, joining forces with keyboardist Brandon Belsky and drummer Elias Andra (formerly of CCCP and The Dreaming) to shake listeners up with a new sound, look and attitude. “I don’t give a shit about sales,” Shuck says. “I give a shit about making a wave.” Well said, bro.

The result of that ambition is their new project Julien-K, a band that fuses sexy, danceable electro with arena-style hard rock – much like Orgy, but with more emphasis on the electronic aspects. “That was the initial thought behind Orgy,” Shuck reveals, “to become an electronic band that could play with the likes of Linkin Park, Korn, My Chemical Romance – real rock bands – and hold our own.” Derakh agrees, adding “I think deep down inside we really felt that we had always wanted to band to go in the direction of what we’re doing now.”

The new group shot out of the gate full-speed, toured with fellow Gothic rockers Evanescence, My Chemical Romance and HIM, contributed a song to the Transformers soundtrack and are currently scoring the entire Transformers 2 video game. But to the band, that’s all been just a warmup for their debut album Death to Analog, which streets next Tuesday from Metropolis Records and kicks off its promotional tour shortly after. Last month they debuted an Eyes Wide Shut-inspired video for “Kick the Bass” on Playboy’s CyberClub… and all I can say about that one is… uh... damn. This link will take you to the “safe” version, but if you’re over 18 (I'm stating that here to be all nice and legal, 'cuz if you click around the site you'll crash straight into boobies), sign up and see the uncensored version and you’ll see what I mean. Again… damn.

If that video weren’t enough to convince you of the band’s passion for dark, horny cyber-rock, listen to Shuck map out their grand design: “We are trying to keep passion in music,” he explains. “We are trying to say something, we are trying to change things, we are trying to take performances to another level… we are trying to integrate technology in a way that no one ever has…. we are trying to talk about real life, our lives, situations, things that people can actually identify with… all the things I used to love in music.”

That’s a pretty massive to-do list, but that level of creative urgency, when focused by skill, can be a powerful weapon – and these dudes’ skills are already well-proven. So do they accomplish all those goals with this project? Well, I’m not one to say whether a single song, album or band can change the world, but I’m a pretty good judge of what kicks ass. And I must say that Death to Analog will plant a black patent-leather boot squarely in your posterior region... but they'll give you a big wet kiss afterwards... on the lips, that is.

They state their orgiastic manifesto right away with the title track, which bumps and grinds along with sample-heavy, sleazy electro bass, then asserts its anthemic qualities with soaring vocals, searing lead guitar and chunky, KMFDM-style riffage. Equally impressive is the aforementioned “Kick the Bass,” with its thick, intense drums, organic guitar and a broad, sweeping chorus seamlessly integrating rich vocals with silver synth-string clouds. “Technical Difficulties” is another down-and-dirty number that welds slap-happy drums to a cone-rattling bass and a gritty loop, darkened further by the blending of an octave-dropped vocoder synched to Shuck's black-velvet vocal lines.

The downright naughtiness suggested in the opening songs is fully realized in my favorite two tracks: “Systeme De Sexe” presents a lascivious, moan-filled Sadean orgy pegged by a throbbing bass line and punctuated by orchestra hits – the best synthesized musical depiction of makin' sexy-time I've heard in ages (maybe I need to get out more, but damn it's hot); and a straight-up awesome cover of Romeo Void's “Never Say Never” with a sick guitar chorus that forced me to repeat the track about seven times before I could move on. The package wraps up sweetly with “Futura (DTA Mix)” a blizzard of deep buzzing undercurrents beneath harmonically-layered vocals, with a chorus split by tight drum & guitar breaks. It's a rush that made me want to reach for a cigarette afterwards... and I don't even smoke. Indeed, sexual intensity drives nearly all of these tracks, and queuing up this CD in fairly open-minded company just might turn a romantic evening into a decidedly naughty adventure... so keep your toolkit handy (if you know what I mean, and I think you do).

But like I said, passion doesn't amount to much without focus and precision, and there's skillz-a-plenty on display here. It's tricky pulling off hooky choruses and roof-raising anthems within the clinical context of electronic beats and arpeggios, but these guys pull it off by locking down their licks so that synths, guitars and even vocal layers are in perfect lock-step, which works to make the sound warm, fat and powerful. It's hard to sustain for a full hour, at least on CD (I'm sure they can rock it righteous onstage), but there's hardly any fluff to be found regardless. Pick this one up and decide for yourself, but I daresay you'll be hanging onto most of these cuts for your next party playlist.