Firstly, I have to apologise as this review will be written through rose tinted spectacles. Pathogen from this excellent Industrial Strength Release is possible my favourite Acid Hardcore track of all time, so instead of leading off with the first track on the record, let's dive straight in to...
PATHOGEN
What a track. This kicks off with some lovely Industrial Noises that was staple of the Industrial Strength Label of the time. When I first started mixing this track, I always tried to beat match from when the Kick drum...erm...kicked in. However the opening noize hits the same timing as the rest of the track and it mixes beautifully into other tracks.
After about a minute of industry (which ticks along at around 180 BPM) the first acid line drops. This is lovely, squelchy 303 noize and is some serious foreshadowing of what's to come. What's to come is possibly the most aggressive, face melting acid and kick combo that had been seen at the point of the track's release.
About three minutes in - all hell breaks loose. The kick goes full double time and Jon Selway turns the tuning knob on the 303 all the way up to create a ridiculously good build up to possibly the best acid acapellas every written. Simple but beautifully effective.
The track comes to rest around the 5 minute mark and you feel like you've been punched in the face with an acidic fist (in a good way). As I said at the start, this may be a rose tinted review, but I challenge any lover of hard as hell music not to appreciate what's going on in this track.
BLOODSTRIKE
On the flip of Pathogen is this slice of hardcore techno. Weighing in at nearly 8 minutes long - this track is a journey full of bleeps, bouncy kick and hi-hat combos, and Industrial Strength madness. It sounds like it's coming to an end at about 5 minutes but you're rewarded with another couple of minutes of ambient noise coupled with more bleeps and bloops.
The beauty in this track is, like Pathogen, a constant build up. I've used this track as a set opener a number of times as it has that feeling that something special is going to happen. The trouble is, finding the next track to better this one. I suppose you could always buy two copies and mix Pathogen into this.
Bloodstrike is a track to completely immerse yourself in madness with. I can't think of another hardcore techno track like this. It's like a three course meal the way the different elements end up on your table. Excellent!
OVERALL
Like many of the Industrial Strength releases of this era and up to around '95 and '96, its an essential purchase if you can find it. For me, this was the right there at the beginning of the golden phase of Industrial Strength Records. You've got to remember that Jon Selway was a major player in this time with this release, and with Koenig Cylinders, Disintegrator, and Machines. You could say he's a hardcore techno legend, and this record for me is the Zenith (IST pun intended) of his releases.
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