C-Tec

C-Tec (or The Cyber-Tec Project) was an EBM band originally formed as a side project in 1995 by Jean-Luc De Meyer (of Front 242), Jonathan Sharp (of New Mind), and Ged Denton (of Crisis n.T.i.). The name was taken from Cyber-Tec Records, who released the band's debut EP. Afterward, Jonathan Sharp left the band (due to problems with Cyber-Tec Records manager Paul M. Green), and Marc Heal (of Cubanate) joined as a full-time member.^[1][2]

C-Tec
Also known as	The Cyber-Tec Project
Origin	United Kingdom / Belgium
Genres	Electro-industrial EBM
Years active	1995–2000
Labels	Cyber-Tec Fifth Colvmn Synthetic Symphony TVT Wax Trax!
Spinoff of	Crisis n.T.i. Cubanate Front 242 New Mind
Members	Jean-Luc De Meyer Ged Denton Marc Heal
Past members	Jonathan Sharp

History

C-Tec was conceived as a one-off project, under the name The Cyber-Tec Project, but the members decided to continue producing music under the name. The concept emerged during a dormant period for Front 242 when De Meyer (the original lead singer in 242) and other members took time to work on solo and side projects.^[3]

In 1995 Synthetic Symphony released the band's debut EP Cyber-Tec, which was later reissued in the United States by Fifth Colvmn Records with an alternate track listing.^[4] The EP peaked at #7 on the CMJ RPM Chart in the U.S.^[5] In 1997, after shortening their name to C-Tec, they released a full album, Darker, on the US industrial Wax Trax! label.

The band toured early in 1996 but the American leg of the tour was cut short after playing only one show in New York City due to contract issues.^[3] The band toured North America twice in 1998 with a hybrid lineup featuring other members of Cubanate and Julian Beeston, one time drummer in Nitzer Ebb.

The second album, Cut, was released in 2000 on SPV imprint Synthetic Symphony. The album was originally slated for US release on Wax Trax! but the label closed around this time, thus, Cut never had an official American release. Cut was ranked #25 on the German Alternative Charts (DAC) Top 50 Albums of 2000.^[6]

In terms of how C-Tec sounded, Darker contains a downbeat, moody collection of songs, showing strong electronic influences but with more ambient textures than would be suggested by the industrial music backgrounds of the main participants. Cut is faster in tempo, with De Meyer’s vocal mixed low. Most of the material on the two full-length C-Tec albums was co-written by Marc Heal and Jean-Luc De Meyer.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

C-Tec effectively went dormant after the release of Cut. In 2018, both "Darker" and "Cut" were remastered and re-released on UK label Armalyte Industries as Darker/Cut.^[12] C-Tec reformed for a corresponding North American tour, featuring DeMeyer, Heal, and Denton, as well as Sean Payne of Cyanotic on drums.

Discography

Studio albums

• Darker (1997, Synthetic Symphony)
• Cut (2000, Synthetic Symphony)

Extended plays

• Cyber-Tec (1995, Synthetic Symphony)

Singles

• Foetal (1998, Wax Trax!/TVT)

Compilation albums

• Darker/Cut (2018, Armalyte Industries)

Compilation appearances

• Neurostyle Vol. IX (1997, Neuro Style/Sub Terranean)
• Full Tilt Volume 1: Past, Present, Future (1997, JVC)
• One Nation Under a Groove! (1997, SPV)
• We Came to Dance - Indie Dancefloor Vol. 11 (1998, Sub Terranean)
• Transmission 05. Binary Application Extension (1998, Genocide Project)
• Euphoria (1998, David Gresham)
• Body Rapture 8 (1999, Zoth Ommog)
• Kaleidoscope Issue 8 (2000, Kaleidoscope)
• Extreme Clubhits IV (2000, UpSolution)
• Numéro 8 (2000, Elegy)
• ElectroCution Version 00:01 (2000, Master Maschine)
• Sonic Seducer Cold Hands Seduction Vol. III (2000, Sonic Seducer)
• Your Gift From The Festivalsummer 2000 (2000, Synthetic Symphony)
• Music With Attitude - Volume 15 (2000, Rock Sound)
• TT 33 (2000, Text und Ton Magazin)
• EBM Club Classics Vol. 3 (2001, Synthetic Symphony)
• Make Armalyte Great Again (2018, Armalyte Industries)
• Implosion New Music Sampler Vol. 2 (1996, Neuro Style)
• Soundtrack Sampler Vol. 5 (1996, Neuro Style)

References

1. Reed, S. Alexander (5 February 2001). Chapitre 10 Body to Body: l'EMB Belge 1981–1985: 5. Ordre Physique. Camion Blanc: Assimilate a Critical History of Industrial Music. Xlibris US. ISBN 9782378480219. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
2. Finkler, Ed (13 January 1998). "Interview with Marc Heal of C-Tec". Sonic Boom. 6 (1). Retrieved 4 September 2020.
3. Waggoner, Andy, ed. (1996). "Interview: Jean Luc de Meyer". Interface. 3 (2): 10. ISSN 1081-8065.
4. mosez (1996). "Cyber-Tec: Cyber-Tec" (PDF). Black Monday (1): 2. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
5. Frampton, Megan (19 February 1996). "RPM" (PDF). CMJ New Music Report. 45 (462). Great Neck, NY: College Media, Inc.: 14. ISSN 0890-0795. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
6. "DAC Top 50 2000". Trendcharts oHG. AMC Alster Musik Consulting GmbH. 2001. Archived from the original on 11 February 2001. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
7. Yücel, Ilker (11 June 2018). "C-Tec InterView: Part 1 – Cut from a Darker Cloth". ReGen. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
8. Yücel, Ilker (12 June 2018). "C-Tec InterView: Part 2 – Far from the Limits". ReGen. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
9. Yücel, Ilker (13 June 2018). "C-Tec InterView: Part 3 – Never a Silent Voice". ReGen. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
10. Gourley, Bob (1996). "The Cyber-Tec Project". Chaos Control. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
11. Gourley, Bob (1998). "Cyber-Tec". Chaos Control. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
12. Van Isacker, Bernard (23 April 2019). "C-Tec sees 'Darker & Cut' re-released as a 2CD set with bonus". Side-Line. Retrieved 10 September 2020.

External links

• Official website
• C-Tec at Bandcamp
• C-Tec on Facebook
• C-Tec's channel on YouTube
• C-Tec discography at Discogs
• C-Tec discography at MusicBrainz