Back in stock: Industrial/Noise

Review: Canadian electro-industrialists Front Line Assembly are legends of the EBM scene and were active from the 80s onwards. They are a rather obscure outfit, nonetheless, who make music for dance floras but with a really twisted and dark edge and plenty of distortion. The Initial Command is a reissue on limited gatefold coloured vinyl of their landmark 1988 album. It comes with all the original tunes as well as three bonus tracks to make this an absolute collector's must. The band are also out on tour right now across the US and still have what it takes to impress.

Review: There are echoes of Coil's mid-1980s cult classic album 'Horse Rotorvator' in 'The Ape of Naples' in that it has such a wide variety of sounds and styles. This one first came back in 2005 and is a go-to for fans as it is just a great example of the band's singular sonic world. The album was put together by Peter Christopherson a year after Jhonn Balance's deadly fall and it features re-workings of the live favourites like 'Amethyst Deceivers' and Love Secret's Domain album track 'Teenage Lightning' plus a numb of tunes first meant for the ultimately ill-fated Backwards long player. Grammy-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson has remastered all the originals for this new reissue.

Review: Canadian electro-industrialists FLA really do understand what consistency is. Having put out 12 official studio albums since their inception in 1986, they have remained at the top of their niche game since first landing on the scene, making tracks with this dystopian dancefloor energy, rooted in the cold and unfeeling factories of the future and deceptive humanism of warm synth work.

Nerve War was their now-legendary first mixtape, released the year they got together, and it set the bar so high its any wonder any of what followed managed to live up to these standards. Suffice to say, the fact subsequent stuff did is testament to the band's genius. Presenting everything from strange and unnerving sonic collages ('Thy Glory'), to gritty slo-mo builders ('To The World') and grand sci-fi themes with shades of neo-Gothicism ('Front Line').

Review: Industrial music formed amidst the concrete decay of post-war Berlin, Einsturzende Neubauten emerged as pioneers of genre. Their sonic alchemy fuses unconventional instruments crafted from scrap metal and construction tools with traditional ones, creating a raw and unsettling symphony. Their new double album "Rampen (APM: Alien Pop Music)" showcases their sonic prowess. Despite the abrasiveness of their sound, the group's music is imbued with a sense of theatricality. Blixa Bargeld's stoic vocals narrate surreal tales of urban decay and existential unease, while the band's live performances evoke industrial rituals. Over the years, the band's music has evolved, incorporating elements of ambient and even pop into their sound. Yet, their core ethos remains intact: to challenge musical boundaries and create a sonic tapestry that reflects the harsh realities of the modern world. This album still helps cement the band moving forward but still respecting their past.

Review: "Hopium" is internet-speak for naive "hope" in the face of oncoming calamity, where "hope" is imagined as a kind of injectable drug upon which media consumers inevitably get hooked. With this in mind, LA-based political synth-come-punk-metal ish act Ministry (the lifetime project of founder Al Jourgensen) deliver their latest album, HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES, which provides a window into the pysche of the contemporary hope-stricken worrier / warrior of today. From the opening war-cry of 'Goddamn White Trash' to the closing clamour of 'Ricky's Hand', it's clear the ultimate message is that there are two kinds of hope - the passive "hopium" kind, and the active kind that knows what it's doing.