The Pain Machinery
Chaos in Expansion
This new self-released album from The Pain Machinery proves beyond any doubt that the previous demo, Terminate Transmission, was no fluke, and that Anders Karlsson is indeed a force to be reckoned with. Chaos In Expansion exploded with pummeling beats, surging distortion and hooky synthlines and bass rhythms below the surface. What makes The Pain Machineryís version of rhythmic noise so appealing is his ability to maintain the brutality of the music throughout the eleven tracks here without succumbing to mundane dark-ambient filler, as many similar projects too often do. In essence, TPM give the best aspects of the genre and keeps it exciting.
The aptly-titled Monster is a juggernaut of aggressively harsh techno and skull-shattering percussion, laced with complex synthesizer melodies and profanity-soaked dialogue samples providing a scathing sense of humour. Everything Is Wrong throbs with hard, determined beats driving a simple synthesizer rhythm with catchy prowess and Revenge is a bitter and vitriolic assault. Likewise violent, Time Heals Nothing crashes with robotic pile-driver beats and apocalyptic walls of noise and samples, tempered by occasional break-downs into bass-synth segue-ways, showing that despite the overwhelming chaos, Karlsson has a keen sense of timing and harmony. The album closes on this note with Heading For The Void, a groove-laden and clattering percussive and distorted piece with well-timed synth work and sharp electronics, providing a more than satisfactory ending for Chaos In Expansion.
When The Pain Machinery does opt for a slower pace, as on Already Dead, the potency of the music remains constant. Militaristic snare drums and edgy electronics mix with a slow menace, intertwined with well-placed dialogue samples and textural guitar, and Fear Me, Hate Me and What Did You Just Do To Me? have more in common with earlier EBM-industrial (like Skinny Puppy or Digital Poodle) given the sparser harsh electronics with higher-pitched arrangements, distorted and layered vocals and bleak atmospheres.
The Pain Machinery capture the best elements of power and rhythmic noise, EBM and electro, and mixes it up into an invigoratingly captivating sound; brutal and cold, but with a keen sense of structure and harmony, which combines into a forcefully compelling sound.
Review from ElectroAge
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