Here this duo cranks out 11 tracks of extremely frantic material with shitloads of chaotic screaming, bashing drums, and noisy guitar riffing that ranges from midpaced and rhythmic to fast and acerbic, or a weirdo approach that kind of sounds like new wave grindcore or something. Lots of weird guitar effects and occasional keyboards (which are, of course, a little "hip" for my tastes) are used to lend a really quirky edge, especially to songs like "The Belgian Congo" with its smartass cackled vocal delivery and strange guitar textures, but that's the only element of the disc that I truly dislike. Because there are actually some damn cool riffs on this disc, plus the drummer hits hard and drops a few nice fills, and the vocalist can certainly scream like there's no tomorrow. The recording also has an interesting distance to it that I enjoy, kind of like it might have been recorded live in a studio or something. There's just an effective rawness to the percussion and a cold sort of bite to the guitars that creates an unusual aesthetic that I can appreciate since the listen is effective. I'm not wild on the effects used in "Pheasant", but the brief instrumental has a nice melodic ring to it that's a lot more memorable than most of this work, so it's actually a cool little track. "Terrier of the Pale Moon" suffers from similarly annoying guitar effects, but as a longer and more consistent piece its sinister discordant riffing still stands out and makes for some forceful material. "Iron Apocalypse" is the longest track at a whopping six minutes, with lots of feedback and pounding chord progressions, not to mention a wealth of sheer noise due to some distorted drumming - making for the most abstract composition herein. As the oddball band name would suggest, the layout is chock full of crazy collaged imagery over crazy illustrations with a crazy mix of color and black and white. No lyrics are included, so all you get is a bit of kooky artwork and recording credits. I have no idea what should be expected from the lyrics, but it could be anything. My guess is that the content's pretty... humorous? I mean, it's gotta have a lighthearted or sarcastic element to it considering how strange this material is. It's not my thing, but I don't hold anything against it, you know? It's zany and crazy and a little different from most of what's out there, and they definitely write stronger riffs than most bands who are loosely comparable to this, so it's really just personal taste that prevents me from fully appreciating what they're doing. So... for me, it's kind of a so-so release, but it is still better than its competition as far as being able to execute frantic and loose riffing that retains a sense of cohesion and force, with performances that are definitely pretty well controlled.
[The Perpetual Motion Machine]
Running time - 26:58, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Pheasant, Terrier of the Pale Moon]
The Perpetual Motion Machine - http://www.theperpetualmotionmachine.com
