This project brings a hard-hitting take on industrial's more EDM side. This does not mean they are compromising the aggression; in fact, the opening track is hitting harder sonically because it is not falling back into 90s nostalgia, but brings the kind of uncompromising attitude that industrial music used to have before too many of the artists got preoccupied with blending into safer mindsets, to not upset the fragile younger fan base merging. This album goes back to not giving a fuck. They are not always in your face and confrontational, allowing for some ambaince and mood to a song like "Drain Me". This might appeal to the more dramatic old school dark wave fans, as it blends with future pop sensibilities.
"Twist the Knife" takes futuristic synths and bleeds the desperation and melancholy from them to accompany the very emotional vocal preformance. The yare not so preoccupied with capturing the synth sound from a certain era that they forget about songwriting, as the vocals have a great deal of purpose in these songs. At times, they flirt with a more Depeche Mode-like feel. There is a slow build to "By My Side" that lures you out onto the dance floor. Some old-school techno melodies haunt the background here. Things get darker for "the Damage Has Been Done," which, much like the opening track, highlights what I feel sonically is the strongest side of the project, though I understand the need to have the more melodic songs to provide a dynamic contrast.
"Leech Parade" does not employ beats that hold the same level of malice as some of the previous, more industrial-leaning, but the heavily effected vocals pick up the slack in this regard. It's another example of how the attitude of the song provides more of the punch. It might be the album's darkest song yet. There is more overt thump to "Compliance Pulls the Trigger." The vocals shift to a higher pitch, creating a different attitude and more of an early 2000s feel as it crosses over into "goth". "Rockets" shifts the mood almsot to the other end of the spectrum with a more Pet Shop Boys feel. I appreciate the dynamic range it introduces. There is still a lingering melancholy to this whih works for me. The beat keeps it's it from becoming too much of a ballad. The deeper you get into the song, the more you can hear the Depeche Mode influence returning. While I enjoy the two remixes of 'The Damage Has Been Done," I am not including them in this review for the purpose of scoring this album.
With that said, this album surprised the hell out of me and impressed me, a feat when you consider how much dark music I review over the course of the year. There has not been anyone else who has dropped a club-ready set of bangers like this, so I am going to give it a 9.5 and see how it grows on me, if you are into 'goth" laced edm with a future pop sensibilty to the production then this album is for you and even if you don't think you are into that kind of music then you should still check it out as it has gone above and beyond, and are just good songs genres be dmaned.
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