01. Cruise Mode 101 (feat. Rubberoom) [4:48]
02. Glass Prism Enclosure (feat. Anti Pop Consortium) [4:23]
03. Hypertension [6:14]
04. DC-10 (feat. Sonic Sum) [4:33]
05. Robosapien [5:45]
06. Freefall [5:03]
07. Monoscopic [5:54]
08. Piranha (feat. Toastie Taylor) [4:58]
09. Sub Species [4:18]
10. We Can Build You (feat. EL-P & Vast Aire) [4:16]
11. Blood Money [5:22]
12. Hell (feat. Dälek) [5:33]


Review:
Excepting 1998's Radio Hades collection and the same year's Versus Reality concept/experiment, it's been a grueling six-year wait for the proper follow-up to Techno Animal's grueling, Alien Queen-size Re-Entry. The Brotherhood of the Bomb doesn't quite possess the daunting lurch of it's predecessor - and indeed it's far from a retread of past stomped-upon ground. But oh, how it pounds and pummels. The record features six ballast-blasting instrumentals and six tracks with vocals, with those vocal contributions arriving courtesy of some of underground hip-hop's elite. It might come as little surprise that Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick continue to adhere to a maxim that states, "When in doubt, push the drums further up in the mix and add some more noise; when not in doubt, push the drums further up in the mix and add some more noise." The instrumentals would evoke a sub-zero climate to a listener located in a tropic region, conjuring visions of endlessly barren and pothole-ridden boulevards dotted by boarded-up buildings. (Monolake fans should be pleased to hear a tip of the hat to the German duo on "Monoscopic.") As far as the vocal tracks are concerned, they hardly add any warmth or temper the record's pungency. During the fruitful collaborations with Vast Aire (Cannibal Ox), El-P (Company Flow), Anti Pop Consortium, Toastie Taylor, Dälek, Sonic Sum, and Rubberoom, you can't help but think that the cracks on their lips must be widening with the delivery of each line. At the end, the only problem is the reality that Martin and Broadrick aren't able to make a record like this every year. ~by Andy Kellman, AMG

In light of recent events, the title of Techno Animal's newest offering may be viewed by some as insensitive, or even inappropriate. While I do not profess to know the exact meaning or origin of The Brotherhood of the Bomb, I'm hard-pressed to believe that the British duo (Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick) meant any disrespect by it -- especially since the title was chosen, and the artwork probably printed, long before 9/11. Its title aside, Brotherhood... is a sinister journey through the caliginous underworld of indie hip-hop and dance. As any good traveler knows, you need a proper scout to navigate the underworld, and Brotherhood... has employed a host of guest MCs to ensure that your journey is a pleasant one. It quickly becomes clear that you are in good hands; Rubberoom breaks it down Chuck D style on the opening "Cruise Mode", and then the Anti-Pop Consortium blow the hinges off "Glass Prison Enclosure", their triple-thick raps floating atop TA's bottom-heavy production. Other standouts on this route include the surging, mechanized beats of "Firefall", El P and Vast's diabolical word-war "We Can Build You", and the group's inferno-spouting collaboration with Dälek, the aptly titled "Hell". While Techno Animal's album titles might be suspect, The Brotherhood of the Bomb proves that their music is anything but. ~by Jason Jackowiak, splendidezine.com

This is Monster Island hip-hop. That's the absolute best description I've been able to come up with, after a couple of weeks of spinning this disc on my way to work (by the way, I'm claiming I was under its influence when I got a speeding ticket this AM; I think it'll hold up in court once I play it for 'em . . .). Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick, the British duo behind Techno Animal, who have under their collective belt such notable noise outfits as God, Ice, and Godflesh, have created one hell of a fusion of the aforementioned noise, dark, trippy dub, and hardcore, heavy-ass rap, and I have a sneaking suspicion it's going to drive away a lot of aficionados of any of those musical genres.
This is one of those albums you'll either love or hate, most likely: if you're looking for Godflesh-style metallic noise, well, the influence is definitely still there (see the speaker-destroying bass "ripples" that rumble beneath almost every track), but it doesn't really fall into that camp; there's some heavy dub sounds here, as well, especially on tracks like the instrumental "Hypertension" (which could almost be off of Massive Attack's Mezzanine), but it's just too heavy and crushing a sound to make for good pass-the-dutchie music; and hip-hop headz will go away confused, too, despite some similarities to Company Flow (which makes some sense, since El-P guests on vocals), since Brotherhood refuses to fit the stereotypical hip-hop cultural mold and imagery. This isn't the kind of album you can really cruise the 'hood to, unless you're looking to kill somebody (and want to be real obvious about it).
Instead, the closest musical analogues would probably be those crazy Digital Hardcore kids over in Berlin (who T.A. have apparently worked with in the past), particularly in the way both Alec Empire & company's music and The Brotherhood of the Bomb assault the senses. After a couple of tracks, the crackling drum tracks and churning bass gave me a righteous headache, and after a few more, I found myself not caring, but bobbing my head in time.
The whole Monster Island metaphor somewhat fits with the band's name and supposed ideological slant, actually -- Techno Animal are about a melding of machines and organics, and those wacky Japanese monster movies are about nothing but, right? Picture Godzilla with a turntable, maybe with Megalon or Gamera throwing down the lyrics, a crowd of slamming, bodyrocking proto-dinosaurs, and a monster-sized stash, and you've got a pretty accurate image of what this CD sounds like. ~by Jeremy Hart, popmatters.com