From the (whether they'd admit it or not) Nine Inch Nails inspired "System Error" to the Slam-against-the-wall-and-hit-nearby-people energy of "One," The Pain Machinery has released an industrial/noise album that is well, exactly what you'd expect from an industrial noise album.

All the elements are there: The great crunch of distortion, the aggressive smash of even more distortion, and once you think you've had enough distortion, something else that's distorted comes into the mix. Did I mention that there's distortion on this album? The use of the effect is incredibly liberal, and not one aspect of the album is untouched by it. To the untrained ear, the vocals are distorted to the point of incomprehension, but to the trained music critic, the vocals are indeed distorted to the point of incomprehension. Think older Skinny Puppy, distort it, make it more monotonous and less inventive and you'll have a great conception of what The Pain Machinery has created with The Venom is Going Global.

Although let's not make any mistakes here with the review: The album, when listened to at the level of each individual track is exceptional powernoise. The beats are heavy and the mood is aggressive. On the other hand, when observed as a unified piece, the album as a whole runs the gamut of sound from "powernoise industrial" to "slightly different powernoise industrial" to "powernoise industrial that sounds a lot like the powernoise industrial before the 'different powernoise industrial.'" Variation is the only thing that lacks in this CD. Everything else hits right to the pulse. The tracks are brutal at times and break down just long enough for you to catch your breath before they smack you in the face again.

Hard hitters on the album are pretty much the entire CD, but some examples of tracks that hit even harder than the rest are the distorted and beaty "Face Down!" and the distorted and beaty "One." Crunchy guitars add emphasis to the synthetic soundscape that The Pain Machinery creates. The album also includes the original "System Error" track as well as a remix of it that sounds very much like the original.

Review from Hardwired

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