Swedish Noise terrorist Anders Karlsson returns with a new sonic assault called "Hostile" and art and the title already give you an angry and clear hint of what he has to offer. Taking his musically influences out of harsh Electro, Powernoise, Punk and out of numerous speech samples of the daily madness called mankind, he is able to offer the listener a wall of sound which can be called unique in this music business. Of course - this music is not designed for the fainthearted, it shouldn't consumed by a pensioner's coffee meeting, because it would cause multiple heart-attacks. It is moreover an always steady and of very own kind of musically expression by a multi-talented artists of our lifetime. The biggest develop in comparison to his predecessor "The Venom Is Going Global" is his maturity to handle more Electro-inspired themes, like rich presented in tracks like "Voltage" or "Pe-programmed Automatic". Also more included, especially on the first 5 - 6 tracks are some real sounding guitar sounds luckily mixed in the background. I am wondering also a bit about the dividing of this album. The first 7 tracks are more calm and mainly Electro-inspired, while the last tracks are much harder, typical Powernoise-like efforts without falling into the typically redundancy of limited composition abilities of this genre.

For this "Hostile" album Anders also took some proven help by his friends in crime like Jonas Hedberg for energetic vocal performances, Tolufim for his known recording qualities, and Jonas Berndt for guitar and bass inputs. This album was also mastered by C-drik - also this makes sure to get an album pretty much influenced by Powernoise-like themes. Favorites I have found in the classic Electro-styled piece "Voltage", the remarkable "Terror Against Terror" and of course the most accessible Powernoise effort here, "Dehumanize". Also a fact: the label BLC Productions finally seems to concentrate to release more acts out of their own roster to reach some more continuity. After the demise of AGONOIZE, THE PAIN MACHINERY is the first BLC act which can release a follow-up CD. Great initiative, well done harsh music here full of different facets which provides a wide and memorable technical ability. A must!

Review by: Marc Tater

Rating: 4.5/5
Review from Chain D.L.K.

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