Published by Davide Pappalardo on September 23, 2018
Conformco is the electro-industrial project by Sean Payne (Cyanotic, Vampyre Anvil, Venus In Aries) and Chris Harris (Project.44), two musicians who should be familiar to any fan of underground industrial metal/rock. Under this moniker, helped by Jesse Hunt (Percussion), David Kultgen (samples, visuals), Charles Levi (live bass) and Stephen Green (art), they deliver a sound working as a love letter to late 80’s Wax Trax!-sound and early 90’s American electro-industrial. All of these elements are filtered by a modern production and some personal takes on the theme, giving us a powerful approach made of sawing bass-lines, crushing drum machines, funky moments, and a right dose of humor.
After the release of the 4-track digital single eighty-sixed, they return with their proper first album controlled.altered.deleted. Here, all the aforementioned elements concur to a captivating sound full of grooves, full-frontal attacks, old-school synth-lines. If you are familiar with names like late 80’s Ministry, Lead Into Gold, Out Out, Revolting Cocks, Die Warzau, you should have an idea of what we are talking about. But, as already said, this is no cover band: EBM-tinged moments, glimpses of rhythmic obsessions, and an omnivore songwriting, offer a refreshing work, managing to take itself not seriously, and to be enthralling and well crafted at the same time.
Standard consumption is the vocal intro to the album, a collection of samples showcasing the consumerism-related themes of the work. The real thing starts with We are conformco, a stomping piece of music made of robust rhythms, buzzing lines, and a very skillful usage of samples and loops. A funky march, in which electronics and seductive sounds are merged together in a triumph of 80’s motifs (the sax sound in the middle of the track is a sure win). Supply+demand assaults us with its thundering drums and majestic synth-lines, dwelling into cyberpunk dances and irresistible refrains. One of the best moments on the album, it employs a mutant songwriting indulging in sound-vortexes and heavy grooves.
The single Eighty-sized plays with sleazy elements (the sample at the beginning remind us of Greater Than One), then it explores crawling bass-lines and 80’s soundscapes recalling an action movie soundtrack. Here, the weapon of choice is not an unrestrained attack, focusing instead on charming moments and various kinds of samples, always filtered by a sharp songwriting. Pound on the table uses sampled guitar riffs amidst measured rhythms and almost dub structures, surprising us with its lysergic nature. Once again, sharper elements interfere with the other elements, keeping a “pleasurably disquieting” atmosphere.
Time to conform is a pulsating affair with frantic snare drums and hypnotizing bass-lines, a tour-de-force made of imposing riffing samples, shouted vocals, and infectious grooves made of fast beats. A machine-rock track fusing electro qualities and guitar-driven elements. At the end of the album we find two remixes/reworks: Eighty-sized becomes the syncopated rhythmic joyride Into the cut [funk-o-tron], a club-oriented take with throbbing bass-lines and obsessive patterns, while Demand supply changes supply+demand into a different track, full of mechanical churning rhythms and electro-rock-tinged grooves and blasts.
A joy for any lovers of old-school electro-industrial, controlled.altered.deleted is a great work, recalling the past, but offering a fresh perspective on it thanks to a playful songwriting. The funk and the sharpness of the various episodes collide into mutant tracks guiding us in a personal musical world, a path paved with suggestions and familiar moments. The energy, the hard rhythms, the riffing lines, the synth sounds, they all evoke a time and moment when American industrial music was on fire, full of a creativity perfectly encapsulated with this release. Give it a listen, you won’t be disappointed.
Label: Glitch Mode Recordings
Rating: 8,5