Well, we've got the best cheap CGI figure available in 2k1, which means it basically looks like what James Cameron was able to make with millions and millions of dollars back in 1991. As someone who was 22 at the time and therefore seeing shitloads of album art, flyers, stickers, etc., it's a) crazy nostalgic and b) strongly indicative of aggressive electronics, although not the kind that are truly abstract and terrifying like Pharmakon (yeah I know she wasn't around that far back, but I know her name and there was stuff like it at the time)--that logo has a beat. However, that's not what it is.
Dig it: instrumental credits, and every one of of those dudes has "metal" written all over them, except for drummer John Gilleland, who has "professional wrestler with a Dracula gimmick" written all over him. Also, this photo sucks even by my standards, but it's late and I'm tired and I'm not taking another one. Also, why is "Information" capitalized? Also, weird URL. Ending in ".tv" might point to something more contemporary, but there's no social media to go with the website and those graphics are so spot on they can only be the real thing. Oh yeah, and--
--a 2001 copyright. So no, it's not just the EP's name. Which also guarantees they were Phoenix locals, as few non-rich people had cell phones in 2001 so an area code actually meant you lived in the area.
Note another random capitalization, this time "Written." Maybe it was a Thing?
Here's the interior and thank-yous. The inner tray tells us what an e-bomb is, basically an EMP. Even in 2001 I don't think it required an artillery shell to deliver, but then I haven't actually looked into it.
OK, so: the music. If I only had the art, I'd guess semi-aggressive electronics. If I only had the band photos, heavy metal. If I had the band photos and the track lengths, I'd specify metalcore or crossover thrash. But I have all three, plus the song titles and credits. One of the former is Sexafusion and one of the latter is "guitars/samples." So my guess is that what we have is a something in the spirit of Nine Inch Nails, Stabbing Westward, Static X, and all those other dudes who melded industrial with metal. NIN kicked it off back in the 1990s--well, I guess Ministry really did in the '80s, but it hit the big time with NIN, who popularized both the sound and a self-loathing and also everything else-loathing content to go with it. Trent Reznor wasn't about to write an equivalent to Jesus Built My Hotrod, and neither were any of his followers.
So yeah, guessing I'm gonna get nine inches of screaming industrial metal here, albeit with a more cyberpunk lyrical focus, if the lyrics prove intelligible. Find out on Wed.
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