I remember the collective groan Morbid Angel received when they said they would be incorporating elements of electronic and industrial in to their next record. While that experiment turned out to be… well… let’s say less than good, the sad reality of Ilud Divinum Insanus should only serve to highlight all the great bands out there mixing up various breeds of metal with electronic and industrial music. Whourkr’s jarring thousand snare death grind, Necro Deathmort’s ambient doom dub, and Ladyscraper’s grinding breakcore clusterfuck show that combining electronic music with metal can be pretty fucking awesome.

Similarly, Toronto’s eyeswithoutaface firmly established their industrial metal bona fides on their debut full length Monotoneoteny, a dynamic trip through psychedelic sludge and heavy electronics. These experimental sludge overlords kick the dreaded sophomore slump square in the balls on their newest album, Warguts. The scathing intensity of Monotoneoteny has been kicked up a couple notches to a blistering salvo of electronics, scalding vocals, and pummeling double bass. Top it off with some bursts of rapid fire snare and the big beats of Techno Animal and Scorn and it’s another ear searing release of industrial metal from this overlooked band.

If the art and title haven’t given it away, Warguts is thematically centered on war. Typical portrayals of valorized soldiers, martial imagery, and the horrors of war have been fodder for hundreds of albums by now, but there is very little of the human element in eyeswithoutaface’s take. Not much of Warguts sounds organic. From the distorted vocals and varied drum samples, to the heavy use of synths and noise, Warguts is less an exploration of human conflict than an audio representation of mechanized trench warfare, as down tempo sludge collides with stuttering programmed double bass, halting rhythms and big beats.

A large part of the albums success is how it unfolds in a series of battles and breaks. Shifting from cold industrial ambiance to harsh metallic sludge with the grace and subtly of a cloud of mustard gas sweeping through a trench, the band weaves an impressive mechanized tapestry. “Devachan” starts with a big, fat beat that abruptly shifts to a stuttering double bass break and guttural vocals. “Dead Friends” has a nasty drum break with bleating electronic, sheets of noise, warped guitar and erratic drum programming. “Beautiful and Cruel” utilizes haunting clean vocals over an array of echoing percussion, slow picked guitar, and grinding bass. “War Will Set You Free” opens with a sample from Stanley Kubrick’s classic Paths of Glory before the mechanized guitar kicks in, collapses to a roaring trudge, then short circuits into sputtering electronics and pounding bass kicks.

Warguts, like Monotoneoteny, is full of great moments but surpasses its predecessor in sheer intensity. The increased drum and bass influence has only made the band heavier and seemingly more focused. Eyeswithoutaface has once again delivered the goods for fans of heavy, fucked up industrial metal.

[Visit the band's website]

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