Techno Animal
The Brotherhood Of The Bomb

THE REVIEW

Kevin Martin and Justin Broadrick. Just these two names one after the other are enough to realize you’re dealing with something serious. Actually, very serious. Among the countless projects these two are involved with, both as a duo, solo, or as part of larger ventures - such as bands or supergroups - (The Bug, King Midas Sound, God, Godflesh, Jesu, Final, Napalm Death, Experimental Audio Research, Sidewinder and many others), they have experimented with almost every genre over two decades, achieving remarkable results. From post-rock to industrial, free jazz to grindcore, glitch to dubstep, techno to dub, sludge metal to drone, ambient to illbient, drum n bass to noise-rock, the artistic vision of these two figures seems limitless: thus, it was not surprising the incursion into experimental rap with "The Brotherhood of the Bomb" (Matador, 2001), sounds they had already explored - albeit in less clear forms - in the early Techno Animal projects, or with that grenade that was "Bad Blood" under the alias Ice.

The rap, if we can call it that, of "The Brotherhood of the Bomb" is obviously not canonical rap, it could hardly be otherwise when talking about such giants, brave in their eclecticism, producers and musicians as creative as few, masters of experimentation, destroyers of cliché plagues, surely a model for all, a punch in the face to all those bands that recycle themselves for records, if not years; let’s call it noise-rap. Indeed, staying true to a certain propensity for wall of noise which is typical of Techno Animal releases as well as God’s and other parallel projects, we are faced with an acidic and highly abrasive album, rich in dissonance, tons of distortion, and absolutely devastating beats, reminiscent of the lessons from their friend Mick 'Scorn' Harris, as well as the significant underground/abstract hip-hop developments of the time, enriched by consistently hard and filthy rap from various equally heavyweight guests from the same scene (two names above all: EL-P, Dälek, certainly not the first to come by).

The first track is immediately dazzling, namely the venomous "Cruise Mode 101" featuring the ever-gutsy Rubberoum over a claustrophobic beat marred by the, from here on indispensable, heavy distortion. Following the same line - pounds of distortion, violent base, even more violent rap - we find five more tracks: The first is the smoky "Dc-10": Sonic Sum on the mic, with Techno Animal at the controls, initially precise and composed, only to then transform into pure noise delirium, on a chorus never so guerrilla-like and industrial. The second is "Piranha", a burst of rotten synths, unspeakable basses, horrifying feedback, noisy dirt, but above all, a powerhouse Toastie Taylor, with his fearsome toasting as usual; musically Martin also foreshadows what a few years later he would experiment with The Bug - initially on illbient planes, then more ragga when struck by the new London trends - that is, a hybrid between dubstep and distorted, sick dance-hall with hardcore vocals, in a nonconformity that deliberately clashes with the typical sunlit nature of reggae et cetera, while maintaining the stoned vibe. The statuesque "Glass Prism Enclosure" featuring Anti-Pop Consortium - and its related characteristic sick flow - certainly pushes less with distortions, but the beat in return is inspired, alien, urban, very pounding and sharp, like the classic distorted feedback-drone and industrial dissonances that are now a norm in the production of Martin and Broadrick.

The other two rap-oriented tracks are two absolute masterpieces both in terms of base and rap. They are the sickness of "We Can Build You" featuring two titans on the mic: El-P at his best, incredibly stylish and furious, and Vast Aire from the legendary Cannibal Ox holding his own perfectly; the base is abrasive, ferrous, and devastating, though never as much as "Hell", a title and a program, delivering Dälek even more furious over the base of these two criminals, building an insurmountable wall of sound, piling distortion on every instrument and channel (bass-beat-voice); poor Mc Dälek – but he's used to it – practically ends up buried alive! Elsewhere they would call it an eargasm.

This is the most rap/noise part of the album, the rest roams across industrial territories riding between mounting breaks and the dub/drone/industrial/experimental hybrid that characterized the early, cryptic, and dark records of the project, yet still with meticulous attention to beats that do not fail to call the double H; it's the shocking "Robosapien" (dark, break-laden, and hyper-distorted) "Hypertension", "Freefall" (strong dub influences, scary basslines, and illegal beats), the sick dub techno of "Monoscopic" (Monolake gone mad), the harsh brutality of "Blood Money", and the cudgel "Sub Species" (disgustingly distorted and acidic).

As with every release by Martin's genius, ideas, originality, and flair are at an extremely high level, feeling as comfortable with rap as he is with a sax next to a John Zorn... imagine then if you add that nutcase Broadrick, two powerhouses pulling off a masterpiece of inestimable proportions, as well as one of the most powerful records to ever reach human ears. Big up!