Misery Loves Co. – Happy? (1996 EP) Review

<strong><span style='color: #cc0000;'>Happy?</span></strong> Review Preview

⛤ Thrash Metal / Industrial Metal | 5.00€ (VG+)
⛤ Pulse Rating: 8 / 10

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There’s something uniquely addictive about the mid-90s collision between industrial machinery and thrash’s razor edges, and no one embodied that hybrid quite like Misery Loves Co. Their 1996 EP Happy? isn’t just a stop-gap release—it’s a raw window into a band pushing themselves further, harder, and with more emotional venom than most of their peers. Revisiting it today through this original Earache Records CD pressing feels like rediscovering a secret weapon hidden between the cracks of the European industrial metal uprising.

There's something uniquely addictive about the mid-'90s collision between industrial machinery and thrash's razor edges, and no one embodied that hybrid quite like Misery Loves Co. Their 1996 EP "Happy?" It isn't just a stop-gap release — it's a raw window into a band pushing themselves further, harder, and with more emotional venom than most of their peers.

Revisiting it today through this original Earache Records CD pressing feels like rediscovering a secret weapon hidden between the cracks of the European industrial metal uprising.

What makes this EP so compelling is its blend of formats: you get the essential CD-ROM video for "My Mind Still Speaks," a punchy and unwilling radio edit of "Happy," and the unreleased bruiser "Strain of Frustration" — a track that captures the claustrophobic tension and metallic abrasion that made the band so distinctive. This alone would justify owning the disc, but the real treasure lies in the massive live block recorded in Madrid while touring with Paradise Lost—a vicious, sweat-drenched snapshot of the band at their most feral.

Although the CD indexes the live material as individual tracks, the performance was originally presented as a single continuous assault. Hearing "This Is No Dream,” "Private Hell,” "Happy?," and "Kiss Your Boots" bleed into each other creates a relentless, steam-powered immersion into their early era. This is the kind of material collectors crave: raw, unfiltered, and undeniably alive.

The closing piece, "Sonic Attack," remixed by Jocke Skog of Clawfinger, twists the band's industrial edge even further into cold mechanical precision — followed by a hidden reprise of "Happy?" lurking at the end. It's a final spark that makes you want to restart the whole disc the moment it ends.

Industrial metal collectors shouldn't hesitate — these early Misery Loves Co. releases only grow harder to find, and this one captures the band at a moment where chaos, technology, and emotion all collided perfectly.

Tracklist:
CD-ROM Track: My Mind Still Speaks (video)
1. Happy (The Against-Our-Will radio edit) – 03:38
2. Strain of Frustration – 03:55
3. This Is No Dream (live) – 03:52
4. Private Hell (live) – 04:16
5. Happy (live) – 04:59
6. Kiss Your Boots (live) – 04:13
7. Sonic Attack (Clawfinger "Seven Snare" remix) / Happy? – 13:35
Total: 38:28

Credits:
Track 2 recorded & mixed at Quest Studio, Uppsala, Sweden.
Track 3 recorded & mixed at MNW Studio, Waxholm, Sweden.
Tracks 4–7 recorded live at Canciller, Madrid, Spain on November 9, 1995 during support tour with Paradise Lost.
Track 8 additional production & programming at Zorbact Headquarters, Stockholm, Sweden.

Links:
Bandcamp
Facebook
Earache Records
🔥 For fans of: Clawfinger, Ministry, Paradise Lost (’95 era), Pitchshifter, industrial-thrash hybrids
💀 Label: Earache Records




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Misery Loves Co. - Your Vision Was Never Mine To Share

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Misery Loves Co. - Happy? (EP)

Misery Loves Co. – Happy?

1996 CD, EP — 5.00€ (VG+)

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