Review: Torque Order – 'Metal Machines'

TORQUE ORDER
'Metal Machines'
SELF-RELEASED

Just over a year on from their impressive debut 'Trust No One', Texan trio Torque Order return with a visceral new single in the form of 'Metal Machines'.

Building nicely on the old school industrial rock formula of their first album with big nods to the likes of Ministry, KMFDM, TKK, Pigface, and Rob Zombie, 'Metal Machines' is a hard and heavy blend of grooving rock, anthem vocals and subtle industrial electronics.

A short intro in the early 90s Wax Trax! Style opens up into a nasty guitar riff that recalls 'WWIII' era KMFDM, while the electronics and vocal samples hark back to the likes of My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult.

This is one of those single/EP releases with a few more remixes than your standard single release giving you a bit more bang for your buck. The likes of Adoration Destroyed, Society Burning, Precision Field, Russell Rott, DJ 501, and Kounter Mehzure each add their spin to the title track's blueprints to create some very different final results. Adoration destroyed go for a more up-to-date pure industrial execution. Society Burning bring the big beats with their mix, while Precision Field dive into old school ebm territory for a gritty interpretation. Russell Rott goes takes the track in a more club friendly direction that descends unexpectedly into hard guitars. DJ 501 takes things in a harsh ebm/aggrotech direction, while Kounter Mehzure round hings off with a stripped back mix of steady beats and dirty bass.

The production has improved from the band's last release with the old school elements preserved but sounding a lot slicker and modern in it's execution.

This is a nice single with plenty of great remixes to get your teeth into. Essentially there is a bit of everything for everyone on offer here which is quite a good tactic. The band present a wide variety of remixes which allows them to play with ideas by proxy while they continue to work on the core of their sound. The end result is a very gratifying listen.  

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