A thrash metal band with shades of industrial...or is it an industrial band with shades of thrash metal? You decide...

Lead vocalist Burton C. Bell also sings on g//z/r's album...another guy here played for Nailbomb, but I'm not exactly sure who it was...

"Soul of a New Machine"

1. "Martyr" (4:05)
2. "Leechmaster" (3:54)
3. "Scapegoat" (4:33)
4. "Crisis" (3:45)
5. "Crash Test" (3:46)
6. "Flesh Hold" (2:31)
7. "Lifeblind" (3:51)
8. "Scumgrief" (4:07)
9. "Natividad"--instrumental (1:04)
10. "Big God/Raped Souls" (2:38)
11. "Arise Above Oppression" (1:51)
12. "Self Immolation" (2:46)
13. "Suffer Age" (3:40)
14. "W.O.E." (2:33)
15. "Desecrate" (2:35)
16. "Escape Confusion" (3:58)
17. "Manipulation" (3:29)

The band's blistering debut (hmm, I should be able to come up with a less cliche description than that...) The first half is full of the thrash/industrial mix that dominates on their later albums, especially on "Martyr" and "Scumgrief". The second half is more of a thrash/hardcore mix. Good music all around.

"Demanufacture"

1. "Demanufacture" (4:12)
2. "Self Bias Resistor" (5:11)
3. "Zero Signal" (5:57)
4. "Replica" (3:56)
5. "New Breed" (2:49)
6. "Dog Day Sunrise" (4:43)
7. "Body Hammer" (5:06)
8. "Flashpoint" (2:52)
9. "H-K (Hunter-Killer)" (5:17)
10. "Pisschrist" (5:23)
11. "A Therapy for Pain" (9:45)

A lot of these songs were used as music for the game Carmageddon, which is how I learned of the band's existence in the first place. "Zero Signal" is particularly awesome (that's the song the Carmageddon intro uses.) Some of the lyrics are surprisingly melodic, especially on "Self Bias Resistor", "Replica", and the title track...this album is a MUST BUY, I can't stress that enough!!

(A live version of "Replica" appears on the Ozzfest Live album...hate to say it but the band doesn't sound that great live...)

"Obsolete" (reissue w/ bonus tracks)

1. "Shock" (4:58)
2. "Edgecrusher" (3:39)
3. "Smasher/Devourer" (5:34)
4. "Securitron (Police State 2000)" (5:47)
5. "Descent" (4:36)
6. "Hi-Tech Hate" (4:33)
7. "Freedom or Fire" (5:11)
8. "Obsolete" (3:51)
9. "Resurrection" (6:35)
10. "Timelessness" (4:08)
11. "Cars" (3:37)
12. "0-0 (Where Evil Dwells)" (5:16)
13. "Soulwound" (3:52)
14. "Messiah" (3:32)
15. "Concreto" (3:35)

Ya know, it's bloody annoying when you go out and buy a CD brand new because the previous one was so damn cool, just to find out the new one is pretty mediocre. And it's even MORE annoying when said CD gets reissued with extra songs!! Normally I don't fall for such greedy record company sheenanigans (there's a new edition of Demanufacture out with bonus tracks too, I'm waiting for it to turn up used); ...BUT...one of the new tracks is a cover of Gary Numan's "Cars", which I downloaded as an mp3, and it's just SO DAMN COOL, dammit!!! In fact it sounds almost identical to the original, just with heavy guitars overlaid...even the vocals sound the same!! (Doh...just checked the liner notes and it's actually Gary Numan singing...well no fucking wonder.) Oh well...I'm considering telling CDNow it's defective and returning my old copy in its place for a refund. Hahahahahha.

As for the rest...well, "Resurrection" and "Timelessness" are the standout tracks, thanks to liberal use of real cellos & violins, but the rest is just a boring retread of what they did on Demanufacture. I hope this doesn't mean the band is losing steam already; hopefully they will continue to grow & forge new ground (and the "Cars" cover is a good start), because the world of thrash metal needs them like no other time before.

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