Album Review: William Control - Hate Culture

20 November 2008

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“Allow me to be frank, You will not like me, The gentlemen will be envious and the ladies will be repelled. You will not like me now and you will like me a good deal less as we go on” - Prologue

William Control is the side project of post-hardcore band Aiden’s frontman William "wiL" Francis and from the outset I was imagining a very screamo-led record full of angst and hatred aimed at anyone who would listen. And I was half right.

The record is clearly influenced by the electronica sounds of David Bowie and Depeche Mode. wiL’s vocals are very enigmatic and a far cry from his wails on many of Aiden’s records. However, that been said, the cover of Cry Little Sister for the film Lost Boys is nothing less than breathtaking - if anyone knows where I can get a copy… hit me up!

Anyway, back to this lovely new album; it commences, as all great albums should, with a prologue. However, this one doesn’t exactly sell the record to the eager listener, but telling them they will “shag” later on is always a good thing right?

Overall, after interviewing wiL and the rest of Aiden in Manchester a few weeks ago I am surprised that he can come out with lyrics as dark and miserable as this as he is actually a really nice (and unbelievably gorgeous) chap! Perhaps he’s just a very versatile songwriter, or perhaps just playing up to what he thinks the public wants.

After the interesting prologue, we get down to business with Beautiful Loser and the intro launches you straight into a world of beautiful techno rock, as the catchy beats go hand in hand with wiL’s infectious voice which is not too far from Ian Curtis’ of Joy Division.

The lyrics leave something to be desired as he claims to be “on a suicide mission to die.” but it’s hard to take his words as insulting or horrible when it’s mixed with such infectious beats.

Then we roll into Strangers, which, considering the blatant pornographic eruption in the middle of the song, is almost encouraging (rough) sex with strangers… although that is probably just my own interpretation, especially if I get my hands on wiL again!

Again, the song is wonderfully crafted with peaks and troughs which make the dark lyrics seem a little less depressing thanks to the addictive music. And to anyone who is a bit sceptic as to whether wiL can pull off this kind of music (or just wants an earful of porn) this is the song for you. It also reminds me of the incredible film 9mm with Nicholas Cage.

Anyway, enough about my film choices and onto Hate Culture which has a great building intro which I love to see on albums, it’s almost one of those Deftones Closer moments where you find yourself wanting to grind against anything rigid… you know what I mean girls!

To say it’s the title track, it does take a good two minutes to actually get going and despite the fact that it really shows off wiL’s powerful voice it isn’t really as good as it’s predecessors. However, when you actually read the lyrics, “Demons walk the Earth, while angels stay in heaven.” you see he does have quite a valid point and can really appreciate the labyrinth of this mans mind.

Tranquilize is a surprisingly upbeat song considering the fact that it’s filled with death and blood. The synth adds a bizarre sound to lyrics which are actually really miserable; “I’m willing death please call my name.” For someone who once planned a massacre in Seattle's University District on New Year's Eve, 1999 you can really understand how troubled this guy must be in this song.

I don’t want to assume anything, but you wonder why he writes things like this… the classic ‘what happened in your childhood wiL?’ comes to mind, however, this mysterious background only adds to the mystery and desire to get deeper into his head.

Razor’s Edge has the best intro on the record and is probably my favourite per se. the sound is so anthemic really infects every part of your body. It’s an extremely sexual song and my skin pricks up and despite his claim that I will not like him as the record goes on, I find myself become more and more allured by wiL.

The vocal announcement in the centre of the song sounds like the first chance we get to hear the real wiL and his honest thoughts and it adds a real touch to the song which seems to actually be about suicide. The final few seconds of the song builds up in a fury of hate and passion and as it ends I find myself creeped out a little bit by the children’s voices which make up We Are Already Here - just a repeat of ‘We are all going to hell.” Nice.