Genre: Industrial/Noise
01 Razorback
02 Force Feel II
03 Madness Of Crowds
04 Tokyo VIP
05 Force Feel
06 In Dead Silence
07 Of Which This Is Now (Truth Is A Difficult Concept)
08 Tangiers
This bands logo font looks exactly like that of another, superior band from the same country, Portishead. The music is not in any way similar, however, and is more akin to Nothing Records artists of the 1990's (Pop Will Eat Itself, Meat Beat Manifesto, Coil, even old Nine Inch Nails). These guys are definitely not stuck in the 90's however, and their sounds are very modern and equipment apparently top-notch. One major feature that brings the 90's influence to prominence is the use and placement of samples, which also brings to mind the great Wax Trax artists of yore. The vocals are usually muttered and pretty scary. “Tokyo VIP” takes many minutes to get to the frightening vocals, and there is very intense electronically-treated percussion that threatens you before they even begin. The track sort of drones out in one of the more inspired segments of the record. The song “Madness of Crowds” seems somewhat out of place, almost retro with synthed digeridoo sounds and movie samples. The first two tracks share an ominous harshness, and “Madness” really kills the vibe. “Razorback” has a pretty sweet intro that shows a precise attention to detail, and it is disarmingly catchy. It is a very strong lead-off to the record, and a pretty good indication of the content within.
So it is pretty odd that by about halfway through the record we are drifting off in to a miasma of white-noise static, returning only in the excellent “Force Feel” to the propulsive sound that dominated the first track. There is somewhat of the feel of power electronics groups in the vocal delivery, it is on a tense tightrope somewhere between the rap-influenced rhythmic industrial style and Whitehouse-style histrionics. The Gun Speaks as an entity that provides the listener with many unique sounds and ideas, presented in a compositional style that will be familiar to many listeners. They are very good at providing atmospheric sound-scapes, but seem to be the most enthusiastic about the all-out industrial rage anthems. “In Dead Silence,” as the title suggests, shows off their ambient chops. Track 7, which has a very long title, owes a bit of a debt to “Love's Secret Domain” era Coil, and sits well with “Madness of Crowds.”
The album closes with a very long piece of severely low-end occupied musique concrete. The bass throb becomes at times overpowering, but the track is filled with lots dentist drill sounding noises and samples, and swirls around for many minutes before finally disappearing into the abyss. An interesting release for adventurous listeners.
http://www.heathenharvest.com/article.php?story=20081014132649476