REVIEWS

Various Artists
Cyanotic Presents: Gears Gone Wild

Bit Riot Records

Posted: Friday, June 20, 2008
By: Ilker Yücel
Editor

For the past several years, Cyanotic and the Glitch Mode Squad have been reviving the communal spirit of the '90s coldwave movement with their mix of abrasive industrial rock, pulsating drum & bass, and all points in between. Having worked with a number of their influences on stage and in the studio, the band has steadily risen from the ground up to become one of today's most notable underground acts. 2006's Hordes of the Elite compilation presented an assorted collection of their fellow acts in the scene, with sounds ranging from glitch to IDM to EBM to good old-fashioned industrial rock, but with their latest compilation, released on BitRiot Records and affectionately titled Gears Gone Wild, they give us a one-up of impressive proportions.

"This should be played at high volume, preferably in a residential area." So begins the compilation after a brief milieu of mechanical whirring, and then leading into the blistering digital hardcore assault of Rabbit Junk's "I Vote Bolshevik Lite," given an edgy drum & bass makeover by Cyanotic. Thus the stage is set for the rest of the record as the energy level barely lets up from beginning to end. Throughout the record, Cyanotic put their stamp on several tracks, from their gritty remix of machine rockers 16volt's "The Defect People" to their edit of the scathing breakbeats and subsonic bass attacks of "My Control = My Power" by Drukore. On top of that, they include a demo of a new song, "Brutal Deluxe," to close the record out and give listeners a taste of what the band has in store for their upcoming new album, The Medication Generation. Other classic coldwave acts appear, first with a remix of Acumen Nation's "Elective Surgical Strike," which builds the track up into a frenzy of stomping synth atmospheres and grinding guitar accompaniment. Similarly, the remix of "Rust Presses" by DJ? Acucrack steadily leads us from a restrained intro into an onslaught of throbbing drum & bass. Chemlab's Jared Louche also makes a dual appearance, once with End.user and the tribal, noisy drum & bass of "The Maker," and also with Prude - his project with members of Cyanotic and Caustic - and "Darkroom," a song that will certainly remind many of Chemlab with its go-go guitars and stripper-friendly lyrics, but augmented with enough beats and sonic touches that many will identify with the other bands involved.

But this compilation isn't just about paying homage to the mechanical past, but also paving the way for the cybernetic future. Infocollapse tear up the speakers with a forceful array of techno beats and shotgun guitars blasting the listener in the face with "Devastate," while GenCAB commands you to the dance floor with acidic synth and glitch-laden backdrops topped off by some melodic yet nihilistic vocals. Similarly, mindFluxFuneral recall the more danceable moments of Skinny Puppy's Process-era with an anthemic display of raging bass lines and shrill vocals. Other tracks like "I'm Pretty Much Fucked" by Mindless Faith, "Abort" by Everything Goes Cold and XP8 or Born into Oblivion's "Afterthought" take on a more modern approach, full of squelching industrial beats and synths taken to the decibel level extreme. Of course, we still have some vicious drum & bass making its way into the mix as can be heard in "U Can't Stop the Bomb" by Left Spine Down, or even in the head-splitting arpeggios, furious bass sweeps, and stinging percussion of Element DCLXI's "Code Six" and Defragmentation's "Core.Rag.Vagina."

With 20 tracks on Gears Gone Wild, one may wonder if the compilation takes the risk of running too long, but as each track goes through soaring peaks and inviting valleys of industrial bliss, you might end up putting the entire record on repeat; there simply isn't a bad track here. And despite the humor of two Terminator exoskeletons doing it doggy style on the cover, the title Gears Gone Wild could not be more appropriate as this music shows man not only utilizing their musical machines to their utmost, but even becoming one with them to spawn what could be a beacon of hope for a music scene in danger of decline. With Cyanotic now going on the Denial Highway tour with 16volt and Bella Morte, fans of forward thinking industrial rock and harsh electronic would do well to pick up a copy of this compilation. It's that good!