Released as a "mini-lp" on Earache in 1992, this is one of Pitch Shifter's better releases and a firm fan favourite. The first six tracks are the proper songs; "Silo" is an instrumental bonus track and tracks eight and nine, if extant, are live recordings found on reissues.
The sound is a development of the Godflesh-esque industrial metal sound found on their earlier Industrial album; however some vocal duties have shifted from M.D. Clayden to his brother. The album has been mastered very well; it is one of the few CDs that has not been compressed to within an inch of its life, which is appealing to any sound quality weenies out there...
Machines do all the percussion so the drums are mercilessly tight; these guys know how to exploit machines so the drums sound realistic. The bass generally follows the drumming, and is mixed just right, so it never disappears but never swamps the riffs either. The riffs themselves are chugging, groovy and mid-paced; standard fare for this genre, but much better than average. There is also a lead guitar which plays over it all, similar to the lead of Godflesh - Don't Bring Me Flowers (so no shredding!).
The bonus track Silo is a little repetitive, but it's a bonus track so you're not expecting anything great from it, and the live tracks sound as if they were captured right off the soundboard, having a great crunchy guitar tone. There are also a lot of vinyl copies of this disc floating about, with some mildly sarky comments scrawled on the vinyl. |