Metal Underground.com

Another of those interesting gems hidden away on the unfortunately unknown Code666 Records, Control Human Delete offers up another entry in the still-small avant-garde and industrial black metal arena. If the band name wasn’t a dead giveaway, Control Human Delete’s “The Prime Mover” is a nihilistic exploration of the end of humanity that definitely isn’t for the faint of heart.

Starting with an almost Nine Inch Nails style industrial vibe, albeit with much more of a metal guitar focus, “The Prime Mover” kicks off with “New Replicator.” The track isn’t structured in the typical way to form melodies or bother with memorable repeating segments, using incredibly harsh vocals and discordant sound effects. The track is rife with blisteringly fast drums, which presumably can only be the work of a drum machine, since they literally sound like a machine gun firing (to mow down all mankind, I guess?). They get the idea across very well, but do have a downside of being overbearing and overly mechanical in nature, and they pop up throughout the whole album.

The album swings back and forth between clear industrial black metal along the lines of Blacklodge or Aborym, and segments that depart from traditional structure altogether for avant-garde insanity in the vein of Stagnant Water. Sound effects are used in interesting ways for a varied soundscape, and the disc gets more and more electronic as the songs march on towards the end. Ending track “Recurrence,” for instance, has a stuttering style mixed with the electronic effects to give off a Nachtblut or Rammstein feel.

It’s not all non-stop chaos however, as the band understands that minimalism can also be effective, like the lonely guitar chords alongside chanted vocals at the end of “Earth-Like Behavior.” Over eight minutes long, “Continuous Data, Pt.1” obviously goes through a few transitions, but the first half is a slow burn of a track meant to be an atmospheric breather as sounds pulse through the void of space. It works, although the robotic voices on the track are unfortunately over the top.

“The Prime Mover” has a wide range of sounds to offer well worth checking out for fans of discordant, chaotic, and avant-garde music. Anyone else probably need not apply, as there’s not enough structure to be musically appealing to fans of more traditional metal.