New Built Ghetto Status

Description

Sudden Darkness was an unlucky speed and thrash metal band from the Rhin-Neckar region of Germany. The status of "Local Heroes" stuck with them, as the LP "Fear Of Reality" recorded in 1988 for GAMA Records was never released, except for 12 (!) test pressings. The band split up, but bassist Guido Holzmann and drummer Neudi continued with a new singer (Axel Schott) and a new guitarist (Roger Dequis). Instead of letting career frustration degenerate into even harder music, the new lineup, now equipped with a "melodic singer," showed unlimited creativity that led not only to a name change but also to a new style that brought together roughly all aspects (of the time) of heavy metal. In 1993, the first album "New Built Ghetto Status" was released, first on CD, then on Massacre/Intercord. On one hand, it received very good reviews and achieved four-digit sales figures, but on the other hand, it posed problems for the press and some metal fans. To this day, there is no band that sounds like Economist, which naturally makes describing the style difficult. The band itself called their music "psycho metal," in which one can still recognize a certain proximity to Anacrusis, Damn The Machine, Voivod, but also Black Sabbath and various American metal bands. A second album ("Mind Movies", 1995) remained unreleased and can be heard in its entirety for the first time on the double CD "ICEFLOWERED - THE COMPLETE WORKS" (released in 2021 on Golden Core). Today, after an additional 25 to 30 years of heavy metal history, both albums are easier to understand and make full sense, which many fans did not or could not see at the time. Some musicians from Economist later appeared in renowned bands such as Manilla Road, Roxxcalibur, Savage Grace, Century, Viron, Jameson Raid, Still Patient, and Trance. Fenriz, from Darkthrone, praised Economist's work and called the style "90s Extravaganza metal," even placing the band above the previous band Sudden Darkness. The double LP is released in a gatefold and additionally includes a four-page printed booklet. One week before sending it to the pressing plant, guitarist Roger Dequis discovered two slides containing an unused photo session for the second album "Mind Movies." Some of these photos are now visible for the first time. Drummer Neudi tells the band's story over two pages and goes into detail about the songs, which further enhances the listening pleasure. Among other things, we learn that all sound effects are handmade - from light bulbs breaking in rhythm to the pipes of an industrial air conditioning system... This double LP is the ultimate tribute to a band that deserved more attention then and now.