By: Ilker Yücel
Editor
An all-star lineup, sharply caustic sound textures, and some of the most melodic yet hardest hitting machine rock the band has produced make this perhaps the finest album 16Volt has yet released.
One would think that 16 years in the underground music scene would take its toll on a band like 16Volt; if not because of the changing trends or the shifts in music-making techniques that occur over so long a period of time, then certainly due to the demands, expectations, and general tastes of the audience. 2007’s FullBlackHabit proved not only that 16Volt had lost none of its edge during the nine year hiatus between that and the previous release, SuperCoolNothing, but the ensuing tour demonstrated that when it comes to good old-fashioned machine rock, the audience knows that 16Volt can and will deliver. Hot off the heels of the tour, Eric Powell and Mike Peoples returned to the studio with KMFDM’s Steve White and SMP’s Jason Bazinet to create what is undoubtedly the most sonically and emotionally diverse 16Volt release ever. Featuring an all-star lineup of guest collaborators, including Tim Skold, Cyanotic’s Sean Payne, Drøne’s Scott Robison, Bildeaux Sarver of Graphic, and Jeremy Inkel of Left Spine Down and Front Line Assembly, AmericanPornSongs is 15 tracks of unbridled industrial aggression and rock & roll fury that sounds just as relevant as it did in 1993 when 16Volt first appeared.
As with FullBlackHabit, AmericanPornSongs is a mixed bag of old and new songs; tracks like the alternative metal drenched in battery acid intro of “Alkali” and the blistering barrage of grating guitar riffs and pounding percussion of “American Porn Song” are finally updated from their previous demo status to become fully-fledged songs in the band’s repertoire. And then to hear songs like “With Fire and Burning” or “The Lord Doesn’t Want Her,” both with their deceptively simple bass lines leading to intensely melodic and guitar-driven choruses, while also experimenting with off-kilter time signatures as in the latter track, there is no doubt that Powell and company have not abandoned those elements that are at the very heart of 16Volt’s songwriting. The main thing that keeps those songs, or even the guttural industrial chug of “Blackbird” and “Useless People,” from sounding like they could’ve appeared on past albums is the production, filled to the brim with rusty and corrosive textures and cleverly designed glitches that only serve to augment 16Volt’s signature sound. The last two songs on the album are somewhat anomalous; “Somebody to Hate” is a full throttle thrasher that presumably takes a lyrical stab at the religious and conservative right, but with a screaming chorus somewhat reminiscent of Filter, and “American Bomb Song” is a darkly ambient instrumental of clanging metallic beats and squelching synths that – in a first for 16Volt – was written by neither Powell or Peoples, but by Scott Robison, ending the album on a classically industrial and grimly foreboding note.
If there were any doubts as to whether 16Volt would be capable of producing a worthy follow-up to FullBlackHabit, they can happily be put to rest as AmericanPornSongs has nary a soft moment; when there are any, they are few and always followed by some of the hardest hitting industrial rock yet produced. Above all, Powell’s songwriting prowess shows no signs of diminishing, nor do his vocal abilities as he harmonizes with himself flawlessly and exhibits a melodic range that few in this scene even care to attempt, and while the guest list is long and distinguished on this album, the presence of past collaborators like Marc LaCorte, Joseph Bishara, and onetime band member John “Servo” DeSalvo helps to make AmericanPornSongs as classic an album as anything in the band’s discography. Even those who dislike 16Volt will find much to behold with this album, making it not only the band’s finest work to date, but perhaps one of the best in the underground industrial scene.
