Ten years into its career,
Decoded Feedback is still updating the sounds of vintage 1980s industrial music with attractive, if sometimes predictable results. The jackboot rhythms of pioneering bands like
Front 242 and
Ministry are in full effect, their weight and depth increased by slightly more advanced sound technology;
Marco Biagiotti's voice is a gruff roar; the arrangements are digitally chilly and tend to juxtapose wispy clouds of synthesizer chords against faux metal guitars and bass-heavy beats. The lyrics are intoned more than sung, and they present their own interesting contradictions: "Bondage" implores the listener to "Open the place in your soul...and be vulnerable/Unmask your courage/See and feel love," lines whose sentiments are completely at odds with the dark aggro groove that accompanies them and the angry growl in which they are sung. They are also at odds with the lyrics to "Nothingness," which proclaims that "There is nothing/Outside yourself." But hey, there's nothing wrong with a little lyrical ambiguity, especially in industrial music, which is not normally notable for its subtlety of thought. "Love Will Save You" is a
Swans cover, believe it or not, and the CD includes a video to "Phoenix," the album's lead track.