Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Justin Broadrick and Kevin Martin collaborated as Techno Animal, producing bleak industrial soundscapes influenced by dub and hip-hop. The groundbreaking project was an influence on the illbient scene as well as numerous post-rock and experimental electronic musicians, and predated dubstep as well as noise-rap acts like Death Grips and clipping. The duo ended the project after 2001's The Brotherhood of the Bomb, a more overtly hip-hop-oriented release featuring guest rappers like El-P and dälek, and largely concentrated on their own prospects for the remainder of the next two decades. The two reunited for a one-off Techno Animal performance at a festival in 2017, then revived the name Zonal, which they used for a limited release in 2000, for their subsequent work, meant as a continuation of Techno Animal. On the first half of their 2019 full-length Wrecked, the duo are joined by Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa), who performed on-stage with them at the Unsound and Roadburn festivals, and it's hard to think of a more appropriate pairing. Over droning feedback and punishingly sludgy rhythms, Ayewa spits venomous lyrics about systematic corruption and black oppression. She evokes the Smashing Pumpkins within the dub nightmare "In a Cage" ("Despite all my rage, we still in a cage"), describes feeling like a living target during the absolutely brutal "Medulla," and declares that "Help ain't on the way" from the higher-ups on "No Investigation," all without the slightest trace of fear in her deep, commanding voice. It's obvious that Broadrick and Martin left a considerable amount of space for Ayewa's righteous venting, as the bass and drums get bigger and louder during the album's instrumental second half. "Black Hole Orbit" comes closest to the diseased dancehall of Martin's work as the Bug, while the searing "S.O.S" pits bludgeoning drums against a Godflesh-like tsunami of distortion. The album jets out into the void with its final two dark ambient pieces, "Alien Within" and "Stargazer."
© Paul Simpson /TiVo