Alien Sex Fiend

IN GOD WE TRUST/ IN CARS YOU RUST

” ‘Cause everybody wants what everybody’s got and everybody’s got what everybody wants ” 

The first time I saw Alien Sex Fiend, they were playing Montreal’s legendary club ”Les Foufounes Electriques” (The Electric Buttocks) that  systematically booked them every Halloween night for at least 5 years. I was delighted to see them play live for the first time on Halloween night 1991 mostly because I had been listening to their music profusely ever since I took an Acid Bath (1984) and got soaked with ASF’s industrial-electro-gothic vicious vibes, a memorable experience that left me wanting for more, and more I got when Liquid Head in Tokyo (1985), “It” the Album (1986)and later on Curse (1990), all fell into my lap. Alien Sex Fiend were the early bearers of an outlandish excentric, cynical but contained decadence that characterises what is now categorised as Goth even the word itself was not used back in those days. Alien Sex Fiend remains the artists who allowed me the most to be able to understand the evolution from punk to Goth. Seeing them live twice was a huge help and of course a true pleasure that was not so widely shared. Alien Sex Fiend always remained very underground.

ASF were formed in 1982 by Nik Wade (Nik Fiend), Christine Wade (Mrs. Fiend), David James (Yaxi Highrizer) and Johnny Freshwater (Johnny Ha-Ha) in late 1982 at the Batcave Club in London. The band became known in the gothic scene for its dark, electronic industrial-leaning sound, heavy samples, loops, dub remixes and manic vocals. Wade had previously been a member of the Alice Cooper-influenced bands the Earwigs and Mr. & Mrs. Demeanour, and later the punk band Demon Preacher (later known as the Demons). So yeah.. I saw them twice on Halloween in Montreal, thanks to the manager who thought it was a perfect choice for Halloween! Mrs Fiend was replaced for one of these 2 shows by a guy who played amazing electric guitar solos amongst many other instruments. Anyways yeah… They really were the shit back then!!! Loved ASF and Chrome and the Legendary Pink Dots were my favorite bands around the time I was like 19 years old!! ASF had this really cool image and their music sounded like nothing else back then.. They had (still do) a style that was unique, sound and vision. I don’t know many bands that can make the crowd bounce and scream all around like ASF! I was already hooked on ASF when Acid Bath was released with tracks like ”E.S.T. (Trip to the Moon)”  plus all the whole devilish, mad, insane and grotesque feeling dripping off my ASF vinyls each time I’d played them. It wasn’t blood but rather some sticky gooey green slime that crawled under my skin and stayed there. I had heard lots of bands that had more or less the same instruments but none of them were as good and accessible as Alien Sex Fiend. Looking at Nik Wade, I had this instant feeling that this guy was serious and every little detail counted, he never got out of character. Boy, what would I give to see them play again.. Alien Sex Fiend happened very fast in my group of friends so we made sure that all together we would own all their records, (excluding the greatest hits). 

The band also recorded 2 BBC Peel Sessions in 1984. At the May session, they recorded “Attack!!!”, “Dead and Buried”, “Ignore the Machine” and “Hee Haw”; at the August session, “In God We Trust”, “E.S.T. (Trip to the Moon)” and “Boneshaker Baby”.  

In October 1985, their third studio album Maximum Security reached No. 100 on the UK Albums Chart and remained there for the week. They also had 2 top 100 singles with “Dead and Buried” in August 1984 and a reissued “Ignore the Machine” in March 1985. Throughout the early 1980s, their work was frequently in the UK Indie Chart and remained a fixture on North American college radios.

The band also became particularly popular in Japan, and in 1985, they released a live album Liquid Head in Tokyo. Freshwater left later in 1985, and the band continued as a trio, supporting Alice Cooper on his “The Nightmare Returns” tour in 1986 and releasing “It” the Album that October. The band was reduced to a duo of the Wades when James left following the release of 1987’s Here Cum Germs. 

If you are discovering Alien Sex Fiend and want to get an album that will give you the best of ASF I would consider buying their 2 discs comp Alien Sex Fiend ‎– The Singles 1983-1995 . I am usually against buying greatest hits because some albums have their own sound and chemistry in Alien Sex Fiend’s case it doesn’t make such a huge difference. Of course the alignment of the songs matters when you are listening to an album but ASF doesn’t lose a lot by jumping from one album to another simply because they never made themed albums so this is what I would definitely start with even if Acid Bath is my personal favorite and would also qualify for anyone wanting to know what ASF is about.

Alien Sex Fiend has been haunting the goth clubs for over thirty years now. Current and founding members Nik Fiend (vocals) and Mrs. Fiend (Instruments) have been innovating deathrock music with its blend of gothic and industrial sound. The group has released their latest album “Death Trip” a few years ago and have been been out on the road promoting it whilst celebrating their thirty plus years as a band in a series of tours. Frontman Nik Fiend hasn’t been slowed down by the years, just perfecting his band’s unusual creepy stage shows.

If you haven’t been to an Alien Sex Fiend show then you’re missing a lot. Nik Fiend has created a cavalcade of the eerie and bizarre with a phantasmagorical stage set and back drop that accompaniments the band’s music perfectly. Before creating Alien Sex Fiend, Nik was in a few Alice Cooper inspired groups so he has taken wild stage prop one step further. Mrs. Fiend’s digital compositions and sonic soundscapes along with grinding guitar riffs from their touring axeman.

Alien Sex Fiend has a sporadic touring schedule so if you want to see them live visit their website for all of the latest news and live show information. Believe me, you do not want to miss a live from from A.S.F. because they are loud, wild and highly entertaining. Nik Fiend is a phenomenal vocalist and showman who will give a performance that will be etched into your brain and retina. Where else will you be able to hear such songs as E.S.T. (Trip to the Moon), I Walk the Line, Dead and Buried, Now I’m Feeling Zombified and I’m Doing Time in a Maximum Security Twilight Home. Any music lover who considers themselves a goth or a fan of industrial music needs to listen  to Alien Sex Fiend at least in their once in their life.

Studio albums

• The Lewd, the Mad, the Ugly and Old Nik cassette (1983, F. O. Reckords)
• Who’s Been Sleeping in My Brain (1983, Anagram Records/Relativity Records)
• Acid Bath (1984, Anagram Records)
• Maximum Security (1985, Anagram Records)
• “It” the Album (1986, Anagram Records)
• Here Cum Germs (1987, Anagram Records)
• Another Planet (1988, Anagram Records)
• Curse (1990, Anagram Records)
• Open Head Surgery (1992, Anagram Records)
• Inferno – The Odyssey Continues (1994, Anagram Records)
• Nocturnal Emissions (1997, 13th Moon Records)
• Information Overload (2004, 13th Moon Records)
• Death Trip (2010, 13th Moon Records)

EPs

• The Impossible Mission Mini-LP (1987, PVC Records)
• Inferno: The Mixes (1995, Anagram Records)

Live albums

• Turn the Monitors Up (1984, F. O. Reckords)
• Liquid Head in Tokyo (1985, Anagram Records)
• Too Much Acid? (1989, Anagram Records)
• The Altered States of America (1993, Anagram Records)
• Flashbacks! (Live 1995–1998) (2001, Yeaah!)
• Zombified (2002, Anagram Records)

Compilation albums

• The First Compact Disc (1986, Anagram Records)
• All Our Yesterdays (1988, Anagram Records)
• A.S.F. Box (1990, Windsong International)
• The Legendary Batcave Tapes (1993, Anagram Records)
• Drive My Rocket – The Collection Part One (1994, Cleopatra Records)
• I’m Her Frankenstein – The Collection Part Two (1995, Cleopatra Records)
• The Singles 1983–1995 (1995, Anagram Records)
• Wardance of the… Alien Sex Fiend (1997, Recall)
• The Bat Cave Masters (1998, Cleopatra Records)
• Fiend at the Controls Vol. 1 & 2 (1999, Anagram Records/Cleopatra Records)
• The Best of Alien Sex Fiend (2001, Anagram Records)
• Fiend Club (2005, Cleopatra Records)
• Para-Abnormal (2006, 13th Moon Records)
• R.I.P. A 12″ Collection (2008, Anagram Records)
• Bat Cave Anthems (2008, Cleopatra Records)
• Between Good and Evil (The Collection) (2013, PressPlay)
• Abducted! The Best of Alien Sex Fiend (2013, Anagram Records)
• Classic Albums and BBC Sessions Collection (2015, Cherry Red Records)
• Classic Albums Volume 2 (2016, Cherry Red Records)
• Fiendology: A 35 Year Trip Through Fiendish History 1982-2017 A.D. and Beyond (2017, Cherry Red Records)

Video albums

• A Purple Glistener (1984, Jettisoundz)
• Liquid Head in Tokyo (1985, Cherry Red Films)
• Edit (1987, Jettisoundz)
• Over Dose! (1988, Jettisoundz)
• Re-Animated – The Promo Collection (1994, Jettisoundz/Cleopatra Records)
• The Making of Inferno – The Odyssey Continues (1994)
• Edit Overdose! (2003, Cherry Red)
• A Purple Glistener + Liquid Head in Tokyo (2005, Cherry Red)