Metal Underground.com

The trick with industrial metal is to somehow find a way to enliven the intentionally cold, programmed sounds with something of the composer's soul. Ministry's Al Jourgenson manages it, as does Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor. Unfortunately, minus a few inspired moments, We Got This Far's "Blunt Force Volume" drowns in its own sterility.

The album's most successful moments are those in which Jason Ames-Silva and Oliver Marsh dare to do something unexpected and bring unadorned instrumentation like the acoustic guitar that shows up in "cave in." Sure, there are programmed elements surrounding it, but it gives the listener some warmth amid the electronic fuzz. "Anywhere but here" follows a similar approach.

Another highlight is the comparatively subdued ".sedona," which has some splendidly creepy near-whispered vocals and an excellent chorus about how "all these excellent feats of magic can't fix the fuck-ups now."

Unfortunately, those tracks are surrounded by a lot of stuff that frankly feels like it was cribbed from "Pretty Hate Machine." Near-danceable beats punctuated with bursts of hyper-distorted noise? "Like Dying" and "Mistep" serve those up, as does the slightly better "Bludgeon." Tracks that consist largely of near-ambient noise? "Breath before the plunge" and ".so.this.is.doom*" have that covered. The problem is that We Got This Far doesn't add anything particularly new or noteworthy to those sounds. They may have "lived" the songs, as they write in the liner notes, but they impart so little that feels unique to them that most of the album feels forgettable.

A handful of good tracks aren't enough to recommend We Got This Far's "Blunt Force Volume." Even industrial metal shouldn't feel this recycled.