The Neon Judgement

The Neon Judgement is a Belgian new wave band, formed in Leuven in 1981 by Dirk Da Davo (born Dirk Timmermans, keyboards / vocalist) and TB Frank (born Frank Vloeberghs, guitarist / vocalist). They have often been cited, alongside fellow Belgian band Front 242, as the pioneers of electronic body music (EBM), an electronic dance genre from the early 1980s combining industrial and electro music. 

 

They combined minimalist industrial drones and new wave synthpop and dance music, with cold, mechanical rhythms. Their early work was aggressive, danceable and dominated by synthesizers and drum-machines. Later in their career, their work featured prominent guitars. The Neon Judgement recorded most of their output for the Play It Again Sam label in Belgium, beginning with 1986's 'Mafu Cage'. Their first American release came in 1987, with the sex-themed concept album, 'Horny As Hell'. Subsequent recordings included 'Blood and Thunder' (1989), 'The Insult' (1990), and 'Are You Real' (1992). 

 

The duo took a three-year hiatus in 1992, returning in 1995 with 'At Devil's Fork', an LP recorded with percussionist Ben Forceville entirely in a wooded area. The band stopped performing in 1998, but reformed in 2004 and started performing live again to promote a series of remixes and re-releases of their material. 

 

Timmermans is also part of the side project Neon Electronics, for which he started his own record label Dancedelic-D and he both reworks old classics and composes new material. In November 2005, The Neon Judgement played at the Machina Festival at the Broadway Club in São Paulo, Brazil. The festival celebrated the first eight years of the site FiberOnline and the launch of the label Fiber Records. Fiber Records released the DVD 'The Neon Judgement – Live at Machina Festival' in 2005 featuring the whole concert of 13 songs.

 

In 2007, the band released the compilation album 'Redbox'. The release followed the 100% vintage 2 CD 'Box' released in October 2005. 'Redbox' mainly contains the band's work during the second half of the 1980s. The album also features remixes from acts such as David Carretta, Blackstrobe, Lifelike, and Helmut Kraft. 'Redbox' also contains a new cover version of "Heroes" by David Bowie. The band released another album, 'Smack', in 2009. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]