Tag Archives: Industrial

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Mind Driller

Horror films have had some peculiar titles over the years. Some get straight to the point, others leave a little more mystery behind the namesake. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for instance, leaves little to the imagination. The Ring on the opposite side of the spectrum, may feature a ring, but no other clues at face value. If you were to take Spanish five piece Mind Driller as a horror film, you may be mistaken that it would be exceedingly bloody and abhorrent, but right that it describes the characteristics of their sound perfectly. Scooping up the afterbirth of nu metal’s remains and harnessing its blackened, crunchy guitar tones into a stew of bright shining keyboards and striking female vocals, the scents arise of a formidable industrial band, fluent in both their native tongue and in English. Imagine a hybrid of Rammstein and Lacuna Coil, and you’re very close. The same aggressive, punchy guitar rains down anvils of crushing weight, with prominent synths cutting through harsh growls, and a gorgeous serenade that tames the stronger male presence. Dark Thoughts is the best balance of both worlds, the programming of the electronics acting as a lighter dynamic to the overbearingly heavy guitar, and the pre-chorus of that angelic voice piercing through the darkness descending, serves as the best entrance into the obscenely catchy melodies and dueling vocals of both sexes of the chorus. 2012’s Red Industrial is nowhere near horror film, but closer to a beautiful metallic drama in a pitch-black factory at night. Mind Driller don’t want to inflict too much damage, but they insist you never forget their name. Once exposed, always in your mind.

Red Industrial and this year’s release Zirkus are both available from their record label Mutant-e’s Bandcamp page for a manageable fee, or from most respectable music retailers.

https://www.facebook.com/MindDriller?fref=ts

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3TEETH

I have a theory as to how this band got its name. Imagine three of industrial’s biggest names, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry and KMFDM getting into a physical altercation in a bar. In the ensuing brawl, Trent Reznor, Al Jourgensen and Sascha Konietzko all lose a tooth and the sheer brainpower and psychic energy between the teeth, births this Los Angleles four piece. Perhaps far too sci-fi or comic book plot a reason, but I’d pay to see that adapted. Joking aside, there’s very little to laugh about 3TEETH. This is dark, dark music, with elements of all three of those bands, manifesting itself into a soundtrack for the sinister of psyche. Cold, mechanical and splattered in grey, 3TEETH’s debut album represents somewhat of a restore factory settings reset to industrial’s origins and principles and for a band only two years of age, their vision of an electronic oblivion is all the more staggering. Unveiled, a lighter shade of oblivion, combines haunting modular synths, a metallic and electronic percussion arrangement and a monotone snarl inside of a glitchy, malfunctioning server room, echoing to high heaven. The 80’s meets the 90’s, and the track is a gloomy but glorious work of art. 3TEETH present to you a show reel of urban decay and social deconstruction so well produced and so well composed, very few words can truly do it justice.

3TEETH’s debut album, and an album of remixes from high profile industrial names can be purchased on their Bandcamp page, or at all respectable music retailers, in physical or digital format.

https://www.facebook.com/3Teeth?fref=ts

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Flesh Field

Crossover at times seems to be somewhat of a dirty word, only because bands can often transcend genres so much, that there simply isn’t a label or category to pigeonhole them into. No actual scientific research has gone into this, but it roughly gathers pace, and quietens down again shortly afterwards around the start of every decade. Not to say that some others don’t brew under the surface in between, but they seem rather few and far between. In the eyes of Colombus, Ohio’s Flesh Field however, their magnum opus came at the time Celldweller announced himself to the world and many an impressionable teenager with an internet connection (not to discredit his influence whatsoever, I am a big fan of his work for definite). Whereas Klayton can mask incredibly infectious pop songs in an electro-industrial facade, Flesh Field made a harsher, harder-edged discography for the darker side of the dancefloor. Smashing together an industrial attitude and a gothic aesthetic, with dark electro, sharpened metal guitar and pounding EBM, 2004’s Strain is a sprawling underground epic that sinks its talons deep and smothers listeners with a sinister embrace. The Collapse is excellence in its execution, the siren’s call elevating this stomper far beyond the realm of any shadow-shrouded industrial before it.

2004’s Strain is the only album available for purchase albeit rarely physically, but readily digitally. For any other of Flesh Field’s older material, you may need to do a little digging, but it exists out there.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flesh-Field/1412567635664994?fref=ts

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NTRSN

There’s a trend of bands or groups taking vowels out of their names, the problem is, it’s getting harder to distinguish if they are words or abbreviations. My guess with this Belgian electronic duo, is I haven’t a clue. All I’m interested in is the blurring between the boundaries of 80’s synth-pop, industrial and some colder, darker electronic ambient compositions. Sadly, the group have split has of 2012 (I’ve had a real morbid obsession with dead or defunct bands recently, fuck), but their music could just as easily score a factory production line as it could an EBM club. Although their murky, gritty synths and basslines prowled the seedy underbelly of the latter 00’s and early 10’s, there’s a satisfying timelessness to the drum machines and keyboard arpeggios. Not to mention, whilst the vocals take upon a harsh tone, it’s not excessively aggressive nor drenched in unnecessary distortion, unlike so many of the genre’s stalwarts. There isn’t an abundance of their material around the internet, but People Like Gods from the 2009 album of the same title, emphasises that perfect reproduction of the synth-pop/cold wave sound, whilst bleeding through shades of that EBM club floorfiller personality that other songs personify better. A true underground gem, this pair of Belgian producers, although gone on to pastures new, had a winning formula on their hands, it just seems a shame it never gained greater exposure.

2009’s People Like Gods and 2011’s Hardlines are available at most select online retailers, in a noticeably expensive physical format or digital mp3.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/NTRSN/428006670669438?fref=ts