Penetration

Album Review

Controlled Bleeding weren't the most commercially successful of industrial bands, but they may have been the most prolific — ever! By the release of 1992's Penetration, even the most arduous of fans would have to be forgiven if they couldn't name all of the band's LPs, EPs, split releases, cassettes and remixes, — not to mention the wide range of stylistic experimentation that had become a staple of almost all of these. Penetration's ten offerings followed suit by not following suit; pushing an eclectic mix of electronic sounds whose only common thread was their trademark, scratched-out, or robotic vocals (often buried deep inside the mix like some kind of afterthought), and an always prominent percussive agenda — and not just electronic, but analog when need be, too. Funky opener "Blessed in the Burning Room" and pulsing follow-up "Now Is the Time" precede the heavier guitar artillery and claustrophobic circle-riffs unleashed for in-your-face remixes of "Auto-Grind" and "In Penetration," while the nerve-fraying "Scrap Metal (Pt. 3 — Live)" dabbles into violent, paralyzing white noise. Other contrasts take listeners on a mesmerizing journey from the relative minimalism of "Will to Power," to the meatier grooves of "Consecration's Will," and finally the warm, lush synthesizer orchestrations of "Awake Beneath the Ground." All told, these many variations may leave some listeners too confused to deal, but for neophytes whose entire notion of industrial music is restricted to the metallic template of Ministry or KMFDM, Controlled Bleeding albums like Penetration offer quite a revelation.