In a nutshell, French newcomers ART 238 really, really like The Berzerker, as their form of industrialized, heavily programmed death metal is a virtual clone of the now maskless Aussies, but aren’t quite up to that standard yet.

Churning, down tuned guitars mix with blast beat heavy, (programmed?) robotic drums, deep growls, frenzied shrieks and lots of samples and clanging, clunking and whirring combine to make this a by the numbers industrial/cyber death metal release, with a heavy emphasis on the mechanical, violent side of furious blast beats rather than the more polished and cybernetic lurch and beep of say Scorngrain, Scarve or Total Devastation.

Starting with the aptly titled “Meltdown” and ending with sample heavy blaster “Out of the Wastelands”, ART 238 cut an industrial swathe with their 10 structurally sound yet obviously influenced tracks. And as is the M.O with industrial death metal, ART 238 throw in the occasional slower, lumbering sections (“Gruntz”, the sprawling “Dusk of Mankind”, parts of “Dawn of Mutants”) and requisite beeps and buzzes (“Circle of Vultures”) amid the bursts of downtuned, Terminator inspired grindcore/death metal (“Skull Crushed”, “Guinea Pig”), but I’ll admit its nowhere near the quality of the Berzerker as far as sheer intensity or riff writing prowess.

Still though, if you are waiting patiently for the next The Berzerker album, ART 238 is a solid stand in that should satiate your desire for industrial tinged brutality.

[Visit the band's website]

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