Absolute Body Control

One of the true cornerstones of Belgian minimal wave and proto-EBM, Absolute Body Control was formed in Antwerp in 1980 by Dirk Ivens, a figure who would go on to reshape European electronic music through his subsequent work with The Klinik, Dive, and Sonar. Fuelled by an unwavering devotion to the cold, skeletal pulse of Suicide and D.A.F., Ivens launched the project with Mark De Jonghe on synths and Veerle De Schepper on backing vocals, self-releasing music on his own Body Records label and distributing it through international tape trading networks at a time when that was the only viable route for music this uncompromising. The project changed shape dramatically when De Jonghe departed: his replacement, Eric Van Wonterghem, had actually been a spectator at the very first ABC concert. The two would go on to form the nucleus of The Klinik  and in doing so, help invent the sound of European industrial music.

This 5LP box set compiles all five cassette releases issued on Body Records across the decade, alongside their sole 7" Is There An Exit? (Blitz Records, 1981), which became an underground anthem on release and remains a touchstone of the genre. The live recordings are meticulously documented — performances at Djem in Melsele, Lintfabriek in Kontich, Sfinks in Boechout, and other Belgian venues that formed the circuit of the early 80s underground. What strikes the listener across all 71 tracks is how fully formed this music already was: drum machine patterns reduced to the essential, icy synth sequences that loop with hypnotic precision, and Ivens' Ian Curtis-baritone vocals locked in an affectless groove that countless acts would spend the following decade trying to replicate. A holy grail for devotees of cold wave, EBM, and the Belgian electronic underground — reissued here in a strictly limited edition of 500 numbered copies on black vinyl.