Review: Caustic – 'OBΔMΔCΔRE'

CAUSTIC 

'OBΔMΔCΔRE' 

UNDUSTRIAL RECORDS 

The lone shining light of Jizzcore, Matt Fanale, returns with another free release to add to the burgeoning and diverse Caustic catalogue. An eleven track EP, 'OBΔMΔCΔRE', features three new tracks, a slew of remixes and two covers of classic Babyland and Godflesh.

'OBΔMΔCΔRE' is a marked return to the “classic” Caustic sound. More stripped back than his recent long player output on 'The Man Who Couldn't Stop' which featured a pronounced progressive streak. Here the tracks are harder, more rhythmically orientated and full of tongue-in-cheek wit.

The EP opens with 'Persistence of Anti-Division', an instrumental track that is driven by a simple central beat and pulsing bassline. It's minimalistic in it's approach but still quite satisfying. The second of the original tracks, 'More Requested To Not Stay Away From Uteri Than a Republican', continues the musical formula with a more up-tempo beat and airy melodic synths over a constant throb, while Fanale drenches his vocals in cavernous reverb. The final of the three 'Industrial Home Ownership' invokes the frantic madness of 'Booze Up And Riot' and 'The Bible, The Bottle, The Bomb' while Fanale does his best rant over the top of it.

The first of the covers is a lo-fi sounding cover of Babyland's 'Worse Case Scenario'. Again Fanale keeps it hard and gritty giving the song more bottom end than the original version. The same is true of 'Christbait Rising' which sees Fanale team up with Vomit Arsonist. It doesn't make any bold moves away from the original but tries to up the heaviness of the original.

The remixes courtesy of Loss, iVardensphere, Mahr, Slavo, Tinhead and Null Device all bring something new to their respected source material, ranging from club, to dub and dark ambient, which rounds off the tra

The lo-fi style and hard rhythms are a nice nod back to the earlier material in the Caustic discography. But this isn't a backwards step or a nostalgia trip. This is one of the many faces of the Caustic sound. Fanale may always be moving on in terms of his songwriting ability, but he doesn't forget where he has already been. ck list quite nicely.

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