New releases last two weeks: Industrial/Noise

Review: DJ Stingray 313's 'INDUSTRY 4.0' is a contemporary dazzler from the enigmatic techno artist. Seemingly at once a lament of - and an embrace of - the modern manufacturing concepts that impact and even construct humanity's contemporary self-concept, this techniciously high-octane new EP wrenches our modern psyches by the collective ear and abrades it like an existential rasp. 'Large Language Model' pummels our sono-somas with jagged electrobass hellpits and the occasional robotic voice interjection - "machine learning" - while the second act, 'Multi Functional Robotics' and 'Sensor Data', moves even less predictably, exuding aneurysms of wonky mindmelt toplines turned assembly lines gone maliciously sentient turned rogue. The music plays back like a forbidden dossier of infohazards; terrifying AI trade secrets you weren't meant to see or hear.

Review: Bill Leeb's Model Kollapse is a compelling debut solo album from an artist renowned for his work with Front Line Assembly, Delerium and Skinny Puppy. After decades of shaping the electronic and industrial landscape, Leeb finally offers a personal statement that continues his legacy of hard-edged, experimental sound. The album echoes the angular, gritty style of Leeb's earlier work, drawing from the influence of pioneers like Front 242 and KMFDM, however, Model Kollapse is distinct for its focused approach to songwriting, integrating sharp, danceable rhythms with thoughtful themes. Singles 'Terror Forms' and 'Demons' set the tone for an album that explores the intersection of technology and human experience, with Leeb's music questioning the role of artificial intelligence and its impact on humanity, blending introspective lyrics with innovative soundscapes. Tracks like 'Folded Hands' and 'Muted Obsessions' probe these themes with a blend of glitchy rhythms and deep electronic grooves. In a time when traditional structures seem to falter, Model Kollapse positions Leeb as a voice of profound inquiry, using music to navigate the complexities of our digital age.

Review: Bill Leeb is the Vancouver-based musician and mastermind behind electro-industrial scene mainstays Front Line Assembly and ambient-pop duo Delerium, as well as a key member of recording projects such as Noise Unit, Intermix and Cyberaktif. The first solo venture by Leeb takes the form of Model Kollapse: a mutative electro-metal odyssey of shocking proportions. Firmly footed in the 80s industrial zeitgeist while still bringing an ear to the sound that could've only been brought to it in the present era, the likes of 'Demons' and 'Terror Forms' are incredible retromorphoses, with heavy EBM and techno production shunning any hint of over-simplicity; precision editing, multiband attentiveness, and controlled caprice, all conjuring images of a seedy but frenetic future Cronenbergian or Gigerian rave, as the old human models collapse all around us.

Review: Dark Entries picks up Severed Heads yet again for Ear Bitten, a double LP reissue of some of the band's earliest material. Pegged as early pushers of the Australian underground industrial scene, Severed Heads emerged in the wake of a former project also shared between three members, Tom Ellard, Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright: Mr. And Mrs. No Smoking Sign. The edgier name Severed Heads was also, conveniently, snappier, and the sonic result of this resignal act would soon prove it a good decision. Though they say they aimed simply to take after forebears like Throbbing Gristle or Suicide, Ear Bitten proves much more than the simple fact of stylogeny. The 22-track record was born of an anarchic assemblage of found domestic and street-larked objects (as well as specialist musical instruments) blurring the lines between the two: using every sound-making tool from cassette deck, to rare Korg or Kawai synth, to proverbial pots and pans, to open-reel (and thus implicatively fuckable-with) dictaphones, Ear Bitten offers a diabolical vision of the sheer, wordless length of the post-punk deserts parched by their 70s, New York precursors.

Review: Too Dark Park, the seminal 1990 album from influential industrial pioneers Skinny Puppy, receives a well-deserved reissue celebrating 35 years of its legendary release. This record stands as one of the band's most influential works, featuring tracks like 'Tormentor' and 'Spasmolytic that have left an indelible mark on the industrial music landscape. Praised by publications like Vice and Metal Hammer, which named it one of the "10 Best Industrial Albums," Too Dark Park is a menacing and massive exploration of themes like H.P. Lovecraft-style cosmic horror, addiction, mental disarray, and the disintegration of nature. Spin aptly described it as a "return to the bloodbath," capturing the album's cataclysmic and chaotic essence. Too Dark Park showcases the band's commitment to experimentation, incorporating elements of funk alongside forceful basslines, samples, electronics, distortion, and heavy guitars. This reissue brings Skinny Puppy's groundbreaking album back to vinyl for the first time in 30 years, offering both longtime fans and new listeners a chance to experience its raw power and innovation. Too Dark Park remains a legendary album in industrial music and continues to captivate audiences with its uncompromising intensity.

Review: Franck Vigroux may be a nightmare for journalists - he rarely talks about his music, preferring to keep his aims, influences and inspirations to himself - but he's amassed an impressive catalogue of experimental-minded releases over the last two decades. While that was initially abstract jazz/electronica fusion, in recent times his releases have explored full-throttle, synths-and-drum-machine driven industrial music, albeit with plenty of dark, paranoid ambience - and his trademark fuzzy guitar textures - thrown in. It's that hybrid sound that he explores on Grand Bal, flitting between horror movie soundscapes (the John Carpenter-esuqe '68'), 'cold wave' workouts ('Vice', the ghostly 'La Live'), fractured ambient ('Lightnin') and intense, noisy and insanely weighty industrial slammers ('Loic').