Industrial Music: Caustic

If you were after delicately nuanced or subtly composed music, then the tenth album from Matt Fanale / Caustic is not for you. This album is a steady, dependable, punch in the face; a throwback to the dawn times of industrial music that has gone "yeah - EBM, electro and the last twenty years of regular progression have been interesting and all that. But I just want violent, stompy noise and lyrics about hate." It's all stripped down, distorted beats, with shoutable tunes on themes of fucked-up feelings and disastrous emotions, designed to get people angry in the pit.

Opener "Attention Please" has a keyboard roll and lyrical delivery that reminds you of early rap tracks, whilst the instrumental "Michael Fucking Ironside" has a kind of bastard trance all the way through it like Brighton rock. The finisher "Bleached Asshole/The Deafening Beat of My Heart" touches on drone and "Toxic Waste" has the most modern sounding, near-gabba drums in it (along with some kick-arse guitar). But the rest of it, including the ironically dancefloor friendly "Bomb the Clubs", have a familiarity of the old school to them that is, frankly, awesome and needed.

Whilst experimentation and new directions are always welcome, it's great to have someone take it back to the start and go "no, this is how it's done and this is why its so damn good".  It also doesn't sound like rework-retro or hipster lo-fi, as it has a clarity of sound and depth of production that many of the early classics were missing. It's just a selection of the core concepts of the genre done with none of the extraneous elements that can often overcrowd or over-complicate things. Think of it as a cool glass of water after months of complicated juice bars and experimental health shakes, that someone has now pissed in and is challenging you to down in one. True: its not going to be for everyone. But some folks think it could both fun and healthy for you.