Choke Chain – Chain Tactics (EP – Choke Chain)

Genre/Influences: EBM, Industrial.
Format: Digital.
Background/Info: “Chain Tactics” is the debut-EP by American artist Mark Trueman aka Choke Chain.
Content: All songs have a retro-feeling getting me back to the late 80s – early 90s and the early work of Revolting Cocks. I got the feeling listening to one long duration song split in 3 chapters. The vocals feel like expressing pain and rage.
+ + + : This is old-school EBM made in America and reminding me the golden years of Wax Trax! and more specifically Revolting Cocks; the mix of European EBM and American Industrial music! Even if this is old-style Electro, it has something refreshing.
– – – : There’s no real diversity between the songs.
Conclusion: Choke Chain is an interesting newcomer so I’ll keep an eye on this band.
Best songs: “Struggle”.
Rate: (6½).
Artist: www.facebook.com/chokechain
About Choke Chain
Choke Chain is the dark electronic project of Milwaukee, Wisconsin musician Mark Trueman, founded around 2018, combining the early-1990s dark electro of the Zoth Ommog and Wax Trax! lineage with the energy of Trueman’s hardcore punk background. “Chain Tactics” was the project’s debut EP; Choke Chain followed it with “Endless Death” and “Invoking Shadows” before the Negative Gain EP “Decomposition”, released on CD, vinyl and digital on July 10, 2026.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

