You could probably write a book on the relation between industrial music and political commentary… in fact, I expect someone probably already has. Whether or not that book contains a mention of Newcastle noiseniks drill is another question; the last taboo of america mini-album is their first release in thirteen years, and I think it’s fair to say they weren’t exactly well-known at their peak in the mid-nineties, despite positive press responses.
But what a fitting time to return. Troubled times call for troubled music, and drill’s blend of post-metal soundscaping and industrial rage sounds like the Zeitgeist knocking at your door with the foreclosure papers in one hand and a well-used nightstick in the other. the last taboo of america is a title that wouldn’t look amiss emblazoned on the cover of an Al Jourgenson project, and the heavily-effected shouting in drill’s more all-out moments recalls the make-it-stop fury that Ministry captured at their most coherent moments.
Where drill trump the better-known industrial outfits is in their musicality. Industrial tends toward a basic rephrasing of the rock lexicon, with simple riffs and traditional structures backing up the lyrical discontent with the sound of saturation. the last taboo of america demonstrates a far more progressive approach, with intricate song architecture demonstrating a strong command of space and tension. The riffs here recall Tool and Pelican more than Pantera, complex time signatures and simple looping motifs evoking a more human machinery than the one-bar cycles of sampled breakbeats and dropped-D bludgeon.
drill’s instrument selection – two basses and two guitars over well-programmed beats – amplifies the tension by creating songs that sound like they’re trying to twist themselves apart, the riffs and loops pulling against each other, seemingly fighting over which direction to take next but actually drawing you inexorably deeper into the chaos. The fifteen-minute epic of “diaspora” descends into Bat-cave-soundtrack electronic whines and drones around two-thirds in, and rather than being a shocking turn of events it seems a logical choice, leaving you floundering in an inimical sonic soup with little chance of escape or respite.
the last taboo of america won’t flick the switches of the PVC-booted darkwavers, although the “stripped repeats remix” of “pitmanic” offers something a trifle more dancefloor orientated than the rest of the selection. But it’s plain to hear that drill aren’t looking to make you dance so much as they’re looking to make you think. the last taboo of america is dark, moody, paranoid, like twenty-four LSD-soaked hours strapped down in front of Fox News atfull volume, and the album’s closing and title track – featuring war correspondent Robert Fisk declaring America’s relationship with Israel to be the last taboo of the title before ending in a brief and violent clatter and smash of sound – is about as far from the cheery narcissist pop of MTV as it’s possible to get.
drill are never going to be huge. To be honest, I doubt they’ll even be big. But the last taboo of america is an important signpost on the road of popular culture – all the more so because so many will pass it by unheeding. Listen now; forewarned is forearmed, so they say.
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Tags: drill, electronic, industrial, post-metal, the last taboo of america
