The '80s and '90s went down in history as, among many other things, the golden era of industrial rock -- a time when
Ministry,
Nine Inch Nails,
Skinny Puppy,
Einstürzende Neubauten,
Godflesh,
KMFDM,
the Revolting Cocks, and other industrial heavyweights made their mark. By the 21st century, industrial rock wasn't as prominent, but it still has possibilities -- and France's nasty, skull-smashing
P.H.O.B.O.S. show listeners some of those on their first full-length album,
Tectonics. Perhaps the word "him" might be more appropriate than "their" when discussing this 2004 recording; although
P.H.O.B.O.S. started out as a four-man band in early 2000, some downsizing occurred after that -- and on
Tectonics, founder/leader
Frédéric Sacri pretty much functions as a one-man band.
Sacri handles the vocals and the guitar playing as well as the electronics and drum programming, and his only assistance comes from producer
Olivier Anicaux.
Tectonics is definitely on the metal side of industrial (as opposed to the club/dance side), and
Sacri combines his appreciation of
Skinny Puppy,
Ministry, and
Godflesh with elements of
Neurosis, black metal (his extreme vocals favor a black metal-ish rasp), and doom metal (à la
Grief). Put all those things together, and it becomes clear that
Tectonics isn't just rehashing classic '80s and '90s industrial --
Sacri has come up with something fresh. He has also come up with something that is noisy, harsh, dissonant, and extremely abrasive; while some of his influences have balanced intensity and musicality (
Neurosis especially),
Tectonics values sensory assault above all else. If
Tectonics has a down side, it is the lack of variety; after the first five or ten minutes, the listener has pretty much heard it all. But this release does have an attractive, interesting sound -- at least if one has a taste for the extreme -- and
Sacri deserves credit for trying to pump some new life into industrial metal on this noteworthy, if undeveloped, outing. ~ Alex Henderson