Witness The Millennium

When the year 2000 arrived, the Electric Hellfire Club could no longer be placed in the industrial category. It had evolved into a bona fide alternative metal band, and 2000's Witness the Millennium is very much an alternative metal album. This highly entertaining CD isn't devoid of sampling and electronic elements, but while technology was the foundation of EHC's industrial work, Witness the Millennium is consistently guitar-based. One thing that hasn't changed about EHC is its lyrics, which still deal with Satanism and the Occult (although S&M/bondage — something EHC has addressed in the past — isn't a prominent subject on this release). But while blistering gems like "The Bishop's Folly" (which is about a Christian minister who becomes a Satanist) and "Number of the Beast" are unlikely to get the Christian Coalition's stamp of approval anytime soon, nothing on Witness the Millennium is truly unsettling. When Slayer and Deicide address the Occult, they are genuinely disturbing — EHC, however, comes across as tongue-in-cheek and humorous more than anything. Witness the Millennium is nothing more than an exercise in outrageous, over-the-top fun, and it is also one of 2000's best alternative metal releases.