If the sonic ambush and equilibrium-busting nature of Body Void’s Atrocity Machine (Prosthetic Records) didn’t make it clear enough: the world has been ass-backwards basically since humanity began to human.
Bringing to the fore themes of continued police corruption/brutality, the filth that is the mainstream newscycle and the unequal-by-nature monster that is capitalism, this record is as on the nose as it can get. Not that the lyrical themes and messages need to be known before one can enjoy this massive titan.
Implementing an omnipresent din that is a veritable house of horrors through and through, the sound is akin to being leveled by a shockwave from a bomb that detonated five inches away. Janys-Iren Faughn’s addition to the now-three-piece instills electronics and samples which cultivate a consistently lurking, stalking presence. The production is, in a word, globular. The sense of imminent danger is palpable and never-ending.
Helped along by Edward Holgerson’s doom-fueled drum lines and Willow Ryan’s ear-popping vocals, Atrocity Machine makes no bones about the message. “Cop Show” sheds light on the culture that glorifies a police state that metes out violence that disproportionately targets minorities and people of color, usually unarmed. And usually young adults, by the way.
“Turn on the cop show / murder for free / 24-7 free live stream / the victims you and me.”
The majority of the album drones with a familiar melody which at times gives the record a one-track feel. It also makes it easier to get completely lost in filth that replaces the real-world dirge in which we are forced to be surrounded.
Call it sludge, call it doom, Body Void has crafted and created an electronic menace that is a suitable opponent for the corrupt society that has befallen us all.
Buy the album here:
7 / 10
MATT COOK