**1/2 Covenant

EUROPA

(Circuitry)

It's almost unfair how mercilessly these Swedes repeat the darkly obvious -- Sisters of Mercy's Floodland echoes all through "Wind of the North," "Leviathan," and "Final Man" -- in a season where dancers can't get enough of the darkly obvious. As for simplicity, where David Bowie, their other significant source, wrote difficult intricacies, Covenant, in Bowie-ized tracks like "20" and "60 Film," do hook lines and one-dimensional beats. The best Sisters of Mercy overplayed every cue and digressed freely; the best Bowie lyrics defy easy interpretation. Covenant stay strictly on message, and their message is primal ("I like the smell of burning kerosene," is how they say it in "Riot"). In addition, they adhere strictly to techno's original format, pushing familiarly soft-synthesizer riffs and fast-tempo trip beats back to basics, like old-school rappers clinging to the birthright of you-don't-stop.

-- Michael Freedberg