I reviewed Bile’s last release, in 2021, the ep: Sharks And Covid, Vol.1.  Pot Farmer vol​.​2 is their seventh full-length album and any fan of bands like of Ministry, early Fear Factory, Skinny Puppy, Godflesh, NIN, Front 242 should find something to sink their teeth into, with the new Bile, although this is much more watered down.

Bile has always been on the more evil side of industrial metal and their last full length was released 9 years ago, the amazing Built To Fuck, Born To Kill.  Hoping for the band to return to this evil style of industrial metal main man Krztoff returns with a much more accessible Bile, that is more radio friendly than previous releases.  10 songs in 42 minutes, with filler, unfortunately to boot, like the “Suckpump (’94 outtake)”, which is just noise. Opening with “Skinwalker Red (overture)”, the song opens with an ambient intro that gets into some electronic industrial, reminding me of a Godflesh release, like Slavestate.  This is an instrumental and has an 80’s flair to it.  It’s actually very cool, especially the fuzzy distorted guitars.

“Marshall Stacks (build a wall)” opens with a hoppy riff and I can imagine a crowd bee-bopping up and down for the entire song.  The main riff is stupid catchy, but also pretty accessible by Bile standards.  Krztoff’s distorted and perverted vox are top notch.  The main guitar repeats throughout the song and the various sound effects add to the depth of the song.  And yes…that’s a saxophone in the song as well.  Now that was way out of left field.

The title track is up next and is a bit more sinister with the distorted and evil vocals.  The song is fairly slow and it’s a creepy crawly, get under your skin feel.  There’s some cool programmed double bass rolls and this speeds the track up in certain areas.  The chorus is catchy and there’s a little guitar solo thrown in just to catch you off guard.  The main guitar riff is pretty heavy, as industrial metal goes.  Again, very catchy, just as it slides right into “Greenhouse: skunkmix” is up next and is another instrumental.  The main riff is very cool and so catchy with a variety of samples and industrial effects.  I think if vocals were included in this song it would have hit home a lot harder.

“Counter Attack” is less than 3 minutes and is the best song on the album.  This brings the Bile speed and classic heavy industrial edge to it as the song is fast and moves as you would expect a vicious Bile song would move.  The song is hellbent on taking your head and playing volleyball with it and spiking it incessantly into the dirt just for laughs.  Excellent song.

“Children Of The Gun (80’s Metal version)” was a previous single, prior to their last ep but the inclusion of it called (80’s Metal version), adds an extra menace to it as the song is heavier and meatier in the guitar department and really drives home why Bile are still one of my favorite bands.  The programmed double bass is ultra-fast in sections and this version is superior to the excellent original.

I mentioned earlier how this is more accessible than previous Bile releases.  I already spoke about some of that earlier, but on songs like “Sugar (where we’re going)” and “Holiday” it’s very evident.  The songs are danceable and will appeal to a wider variety of music listeners.  The songs are catchy, I’ll give them that, but really not my cup of tea.  The production on Pot Farmer vol​.​2 is excellent.  The band has always been creative with their samples, song structures and industrial noises, but ensuring that the music comes through as well and is heavy.  I would have rather had more songs in the vein of “Counter Attack” or the menacing and awesome “Disintegration Day”, both on this record, rather than the poppy songs and other instrumental numbers.

I’ll be honest I was expecting more from this release, especially since their last album  Built To Fuck, Born To Kill is one of the best and most ferocious Bile albums.  This has catchy moments, with some sparse vicious parts, in favor of more mainstream sounds, which could be found in some video game soundtracks – seriously.  More of a medicore album – – Bile you guys can do better.

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