Combichrist at the Gramercy Theatre

Andy LaPlegua

Ole Anders Olsen, known professionally as Andy LaPlegua, began his life and his career in Fredrikstad, Norway. There, LaPlegua experimented with hip-hop in the techno band LAW, industrial in Devils into Crime (DIC), hardcore punk in My Right Choice (MRC) (later renamed Fleshfire) and metal in Lash Out. He also explored trance and club music with the bands Plastic Life and Sector9. He conceived a solo project in 1997, but then recruited musicians to evolve the project into the futurepop band Icon of Coil. LaPlegua then formed aggrotech band Combichrist in 2003 as a more aggressive alternative to Icon of Coil and then the electro-industrial Panzer AG in 2004 to combine the danceability of Icon of Coil and the hard-hitting beats of Combichrist. His most techno-oriented project is (DJ) Scandy, and his newest project, Scandinavian Cock, is a rockabilly/psychobilly act. LaPlegua presently is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

At the Gramercy Theatre tonight, LaPlegua was accompanied by guitarist Eric13, keyboardist Elliot Berlin, drummer Joe Letz, and percussionist Nick Rossi. Combichrist's eighth and most recent album, This Is Where Death Begins, was released two years ago, so with no new songs to promote, the Everybody Still Hates You tour consisted entirely of songs unearthed from the Combichrist catalog. LaPlegua growled acidic melodies as the band backed him with hard, scorching beats and waves of corrosive industrial metal soundscapes, bridging crunching death metal with industrial, techno and power noise elements. The musicians maintained their high-energy pace from beginning to end; LaPlegua and Eric13 incessantly paced the edge of the stage and engaged the audience, and Letz, wearing both a mouth guard to create a perpetual wide smile and a short black dress that revealed his panties when he stood (which he did often), frequently poured water on his drums to create geysers when he hit them with his sticks. Powered by an explosive barrage of beats, the intensity of the band's sonic battery matched the imaginative creativity of this harsh, hammering music. Combichrist's performance scraped and frayed the edges of extreme dance music.

Visit Combichrist at www.combichrist.com.