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Modulate
Skullfuck

Sistinas Music

Posted: Thursday, June 07, 2007
By: Matthew Johnson
Assistant Editor

Modulate's Geoff Lee takes a risk with the title track on his debut EP, Skullfuck, by basing it around a sample that should be instantly recognizable to anyone who has seen Full Metal Jacket; like the Hellraiser series, it's one of the most commonly sampled films in the industrial scene, for good and for ill. In this case, it pays off in spades. Thanks in part to a long-running career as a DJ in the very clubs Skullfuck is geared to, Lee has a mastery of the form inside and out, and the way he chops up the signature sample in perfect synch with the jackhammer beats of the drum machine makes this one of the hardest-hitting, joyously vicious tracks in recent memory. The pounding kicks, simple but hard-charging synths, and memorably raunchy sample recall such acts Combichrist and Terrorfakt, but if anything, "Skullfuck" is an even more precisely targeted assault. Throw in some remixes by such acts as Phantom West and ESA that take things in acid techno and rhythmic noise directions without detracting from the original version's visceral impact, and you've got a CD that'll be on every EBM play-list this summer. Lee saves the best for last, though; closing track "Electronic Battle Weapon" retains the high-BPM rhythm section and drenches it in thick, distorted electronics. If "Skullfuck" is like a kick to the head, "Electronic Battle Weapon" is like having a safe dropped on you. Thanks to Modulate's catchy rhythms, though, you'll still be trying to dance, crushed skeleton or not, and what power noise fanatic could ask for anything more?