My expectation of this album by the duo called Petbrick was of something electronic and industrial. But there’s talk too of punk attitudes and experimentation, so maybe my expectation was off the mark. The duo in question are Wayne Adams of Big Lad and Iggor Cavalera of Sepultura but that’s no great help as it’s that they, and Iggor in particular, wanted to try something different to reflect in some form or another the modern world. So, I really had no idea what to expect.
Actually the above does cover it – electronic, punkish, industrial and representative of a dystopian age. The wind whistles but in a psychedelic way like Hawkwind’s “Silver Machine”. The drum hammers away and all in all, the anarchy of the obscurely titled “Horse” is intriguing. That’s normal compared to “Radiation Facial”, a piece of wild and experimental electronic chaos, not as it happens, much different from the similarly named Igorr from France, but with the harshness of Wumpscut, not to mention elements of Ephel Duath, or Rammstein. “Guacamole Handshake” is even more outlandish, experimental, industrial and harsh. Apart from the regular drum beat, the computers have taken over to mess with us. My goodness, it’s dark out there. It’s clever too, as it comes back to mash with us after giving the impression the factory shift is over. “Roadkill Ruby” is pure Wumpscut with its amped-up vocal and the frenetic, irregular industrial techno framework.
Iggor himself defines this as “horrible noise”. Indeed on go the short circuiting and sounds of “global malfunction”. “Sect” is typically disturbing and harsh, representing a dead world the electronic waves have sucked all life out of humanity. But it is powerful. “Gringolicker”, vocalised by Warmduscher’s Mutado Pinado, is apparently about Donald Trump. When I heard it, I equated it stylistically to a dark techno version of Public Image Limited. Guest vocalists feature throughout but the net result is the same – dark techno vibes and sinister sounds. “Jesus Dropkick” sounds confrontational and indeed is. The sound suggests intergalactic warfare, or a convention of daleks. Or even the factory where Daleks are welded together. The pace picks up to insane levels on the roaring “Some Semblance of a Story”, fronted by Integity’s Dwid Hellion. It has an element of Ephel Duath’s “Pain Remixes the Known”. Perhaps appropriately after all these murderous techno pieces, the album ends morbidly and menacingly, and of course in a sea of sound waves with “Dr Blair”. You have to like electro music, industrial sounds and a healthy dose of experimental noise, but this really is a interesting album and a vivid representation of a world in turmoil.
I liked “I”. It’s not a band for the optimist, nor is it one if you want straight line songs, but it is one for the modern dystopian age.
Full review here: Ave Noctum
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