Caustic – American Carrion (CD Album – Negative Gain Productions)

Genre/Influences: EBM, dark-electro, industrial.
Background/Info: Matt Fanale strikes back with a new creation of his sonic brainchild Caustic. This is the tenth full length album to date.
Content: “American Carrion” covers different influences, which are taking off with pure EBM, but next moving into more sophisticated electronic fields. The EBM inspiration however seems to have been the main one for “American Carrion”. There are more EBM cuts running through the work, but I also heard some retro-like sequences reminding me of early Ministry and The Revolting Cocks. “American Carrion” becomes a much diversified piece of music and that’s not surprising if you’re a bit familiar with the Caustic discography. Let’s say that Matt Fanale has been more focalized on EBM instead of harsh industrial assaults.
+ + + : I like the album’s diversity, but especially the EBM influence, which is pretty sophisticated and efficient. “Drugskill” and “Fuck That Fascist Beat” both are impressive examples of the artist’s EBM approach. “Angel Grinder” sounds somewhat different, but here again you’ll notice the great sound treatments this work has been made by. I also enjoyed the tracklist, which is progressively evolving towards a sensational final part. I there noticed cool, menacing bass lines sometimes reminding me to Leather Strip.
– – – : It’s hard to say that this is the best Caustic album in history, but I know for sure there are less songs to throw away.
Conclusion: Caustic remains faithful to certain electronic eclecticism mixing industrial music together with EBM, dark-electro and a few more influences for the ride, but “American Carrion” also is a work with several great songs on it!
Best songs: “Fuck That Fascist Beat”, “Angel Grinder”, “Drugskill”, “One Nation Under Fear”, “Purgative”.
Rate: (8½).
Artist: www.facebook.com/causticmusic
Label: www.negativegain.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Negative–Gain/212061438836984
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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.

