Maximum Strength-Quantified Self review by Mark Jenkins. FFO: Moody, deep death industrial glory!!!.

 

Maximum Strength-Quantified Self review. FFO: Moody, deep- industrial glory!!!.

We review a fair spread of genres here. Still, me-as in Mark is really deep into cathartic, borderline insane dark explorations of audio that push boundaries-hence I am 100% devoted to Napalm Death, Amenra, Acacia Strain and Godflesh, etc. Maximum Strength, hailing from Washington state delivers all these vibes, plus murky pastiches of old-school industrial gods like Neubauten and Skinny Puppy in a most glorious way. It is totally dark and depressive as fuck. AND EVERY SECOND IS UTTERLY GLORIOUS. THIS IS SHIT YOU WIG OUT TO IN THE DARK TO. 
THIS DEFINES EPIC MUSIC!!!

I really adore the spiel or manifesto of this band:

Music is a drug. A technology of consciousness alteration.

Maximum Strength is an exploration of the ways sound can be used to alter consciousness. Always changing, every working is an experiment.



Hallelujah and praise to people that are passionate devotees to music, not fake arse lame rock stars.

The seven tracks here are maddened, doomy, synthy heavy as hell industrial soundscapes of grim beauty. Overture is the synthy, dark opener-wow this has amazing production as everything sings out so perfectly, and the balance of noise and melody is glorious-this could be on any movie soundtrack, an incredible start.
Inside You Are Two Wolves is next, the interplay between the beats and the filthy keys is wild. Then the very black metal vocals kick in to move things from darkwave to more defiled audio warfare. The background drums hook you, but the intricate layers to this track (and many others to be honest) absolutely keep your interest high. Across this release are strong eerie sentiments that drop into industrial, darkwave, sludge and various forms of black metal. 

The Scribe utilises the brilliance of power electronics, I mean check the fuzzed-out buzz that may drive some crazy, but I loved this approach. Then you get a post-metal meets classic gothic atmosphere; with feverish vocals deep in the mix, all in a low-tempo grandeur. The title track starts off with a high-toned synth attack, then a really putrid bass line plus more depressive yet dynamic vocal expertise. This has an underground movie soundtrack appeal again and that wins me over anytime. It literally screams; BRING THE DARKNESS, BRING IT NOW!!! Cemetery Angel then arrives, easily the release's absolute banger-think Bauhaus meets Christian Death and early black metal, the sheer gothic splendour of this cannot be overstated. The basslines really dominate this classic track, and it is definitely one of the best tracks of the year-NO FUCKING QUESTION. Hard to think the release can still provide such impressive tracks after that song, but no it still will slaughter you. Remembering is a very German-sounding industrial beast that has wild synth and weird arse sounds all over it, but like the whole release is super moody and continues that gothic tone that has minor flavours of  Alien Sex Fiend, TSOL, Fields of the Nephilim etc meets beat driven industrial/black metal. To pull that off is incredible frankly. AMAB closes the album off, and not subtly. The opening portion is borderline hard electronica with evil vocals creeping in, and these vocals if you really focus just on them alone; will floor you. But the whole astute composition of this track is tremendous and the mark of truly talented artists.   

As I said at the start, this type of release is the clear difference between people releasing music as a matter of fact versus true artists who drip their fucking soul into a project.

SUPPORT THIS BAND HARD, THEY ARE INCREDIBLE!!!

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