I received this promo CD recently sent from Nuclear Blast Records and have to admit that before I received this promo I had never heard of THE KOVENANT. So with an open mind and no good or bad opinions of previous releases, I started some research on this band from Norway. Originally called "COVENANT" and labelled a Death Metal band from their inception back in 1997 THE KOVENANT now with a (K) have emerged over their last couple of releases as somewhat an industrial band changing quite largely from their previous genre. "S.E.T.I." is the much-anticipated release after a long 4-year wait and release of "Animatronic" aside from re-releases of previously released material.

Right from the opening track "Cybertrash" I realized that this latest release from THE KOVENANT was totally industrial comparative to German Industrial kings RAMMSTEIN, and similar in heaviness to that of the Canadian band STRAPPING YOUNG LAD. "Planet Of The Apes" follows up the initial track on the album with a fast paced dancy feel. Ever apparent throughout this song are the computerized drumbeats that are a staple of all industrial music. Psy Coma and Angel still claim their roles as Metal Guitarists on songs like "Neon" and “Hollow Earth” filling these 2 songs with crunchy riffs that admittedly maintained my interest in this CD. Many different aspects of musical styles were played around with on this CD including a slow, dark and gloomy number called "Stillborn Universe" along with a number of upbeat keyboard filled numbers that originally had me writhing in my chair.

THE KOVENANT has continued to change their career path with this latest release following in the footsteps of bands like KATATONIA who also completely revamped their style and surprised their fans with an all-new outlook. S.E.T.I. is not for everyone and I would have to think that this release from THE KOVENANT is definitely for die hard fans of the band or something new for others to taste in this ever changing world of Metal music. (Online May 3, 2004)