Its first release was the album “Advanced/Decay” in 2001 on Tonedeaf Records. Its style was electro-industrial. It gained widespread attention, particularly with the moody dance track “Regrets”, which was also released as a single and became a danceclub hit. Soon after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Matt Cargill joined the U.S. military and was no longer available as a member of Cesium 137. Cesium 137 had a hiatus of three years before their next release. That release was “Elemental” in 2004; it was issued with Metropolis Records, a much more prominent label than Tonedeaf. It was soon followed by an E.P. release, “Luminous”, also in 2004 on Metropolis; it composed largely of remixed material from “Elemental”. Cesium 137’s style was much mellower and synthpoppy and less angst-ridden on these releases than on “Advanced/Decay”. Whether that was simply a natural progression or whether Cargill was the sole source of angst and took it with him to the military is an open question. In 2006 Cesium 137 released “Intelligent Design”. And their latest album “Proof of Life” was released in 2007. Like its predecessor, both were released by Metropolis. Cesium 137 is named after a radioactive isotope of cesium. It continues a tradition in industrial music of incorporating a number in the band name, which became popular after the example of Front 242. It also continues the narrower tradition in industrial music of adopting the name of an isotope as the band name, as with Carbon 12 and Front 242 offshoot Cobalt 60. |
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