6 /10
Having had the opportunity of hearing The Pain Machinery a few years back, alongside the possibility of seeing a selection of their videos with Fetish 23, I must admit that "Chaos in Expansion" is a significant step in the right direction.
There is no longer speed for the mere sake of speed, and nor is there chaos merely for the sake of chaos. On "Chaos in Expansion" we find direction and focus in combination with songs, established on what seems to be factual intent and design.
"Chaos in Expansion" is methodically fast and altogether quite upbeat. With dictating drum machine arrangements and accompanying synthesisers throbs, The Pain Machinery deliver music which occasionally brings both D.A.F and Front 242 to mind.
Although I can't imagine that the inexperienced listener would endure more than fifteen to twenty minutes of what The Pain Machinery deliver, this work is more easy-listened than previous accomplishments, and hence possesses the possibility to appeal to a greater number of people.
What The Pain Machinery deliver is both fierce, fast and hard, situated somewhere in the wasteland of EBM and power electronics, not far from what German record label Ant-Zen deliver. I wouldn't have admitted to this some time ago, but after listening to "Chaos in Expansion", I must say that The Pain Machinery are in fact quite good.

/Tomas Pettersson

Review from Moving Hands E-zine

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