Sacred Bones US Schallplatten & CDs

Review: On his three previous solo albums as Blanck Mass, Fuck Buttons member Benjamin John Power offered up abstract but enjoyable blends of ambient, drone, IDM and electronics. On "Animated Violence Mild", his first full-length for two years, Power has decided to take a far more dystopian path, blending ear-catching, synth-pop influenced melodies with thrusting, doom-laden techno rhythms, growling aural textures, industrial strength noise and hybrid electronic power-pop. It's an ear-catching affair, with highlights including the boisterous, distorted techno-pop of "House Vs House", the post-apocalyptic power-trance rush of "Hush Money", the hypnotic, maximal ambient movements of "Creature/West Fuqua" and the pulsating intensity of "Wings Of Hate".

Review: Let's face facts, there's pretty much always something haunting about the appropriately named moniker of British electronic soloist Blanck Mass, AKA Benjamin John Power. Carving out a unique corner of noise that combines elements of gothic synth, coldwave, industrial, math rock and classical sci-fi, In Ferneaux opens the scoring with a track that's arguably the most Blanck Mass of all time - 'Phase I'; a spellbinding, fantastical, arpeggiated keyboard exhibition that belongs in a cathedral of electronica.

'Phase II', the adjoining track, gives its predecessor a run for that money, mind. Bringing white noise to the fore, but creating a real sense of depth and atmosphere by way of a background sonic jumble, if part one was a display of staggering musicality by way of cascading organs, the second firmly stakes its claim in the idea that Mr Mass is at his best when presenting that which defies definition.