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Wednesday, 11 September 2013

Review: Caustic – 'The Coprophagia/Consummatia EP'



'The Coprophagia/Consummatia EP' 

Matt Fanale, (AKA the industrial necrophile) is back with the companion EP to his last full-length outing 'The Man Who Couldn't Stop'. A more complex offering (both musically and conceptually) that fans were used to, which saw Fanale build the album around the novel 'Ulysses' by James Joyce and follow two distinct story lines around a failed relationship and a revolution. It is this kind of ambition and determination that has seen Fanale prove himself time and time again, transforming Caustic from a musical oddity to a serious international name. He's still odd though. But in a good way.

Essentially the final six tracks from 'The Man That Couldn't Stop', 'The Coprophagia/Consummatia EP' harks back to the breakthrough success of 2011's 'The Golden Vagina Of Fame And Profit' in that it is a relentless dance floor assault. Hard beats, aggressive leads and shout-along vocals are on the menu, and despite the unpalatable title, it's a rather tasty sound.

Opening with the, “massive” sounding 'Massiv Aggressiv' (which features j-l from Straftanz), Fanale wastes no time in unleashing this assured dance floor hit. This is quickly followed by the playfully schizophrenic style of 'Hands Up (It's A Raid)', which has the pure fun of KMFDM's 'Me And My Gun'. 'Bring Out Your Dead' is a somewhat darker with its Skinny Puppy-esque steady beat and sinister-half whispered vocal over a catchy synth lead. 'Must Have Pills' again carries on the darker darker vibe with the hanging drone before morphing into a mid-paced dance track, but again retaining the down-beat vocal style. 'Gossamer' follows on down the dark path but this time it recalls the likes of 'White Knuckle Headfuck' with its steady dance pace, and damn addictive lead. The final track 'Eyes Pried Wide' is a wonderfully demented duet with Fanale's coarse whisper over the cavernous beat counterbalanced by airy synths and vocals courtesy of Meghan Rose.

As we've come to expect, the quality of Fanale's song-writing continues to grow and the production always brings out the best in the recordings. So much so, that it's becoming increasingly hard to find fault with his work on any level. This may be an off label EP released but Fanale hasn't scrimped on the quality of the music within. 'Massiv Aggressiv' , 'Hands Up (It's A Raid)' and 'Must Have Pills' are some of the finest dance floor offerings to have been stamped with the Caustic moniker. Fanale continues to aim high and surpass himself.