Back catalogue: Leftfield

Review: Pharmakon's Maggot Mass, the latest release after a five-year pause, sees Margaret Chardiet pushing the boundaries of her sound. Departing from the original frameworks of her previous work, this album blends the raw power of noise and power electronics with industrial and punk elements. The album reflects Chardiet's deep-seated disillusionment with humanity's fractured connection to the environment, exploring the isolation that arises from this disconnect. Pharmakon challenges the conventional notions of worth and privilege, questioning humanity's hierarchical dominance over nature. The title track, Maggot Mass, draws a provocative comparison between humans and maggots, suggesting that maggots contribute more to the ecosystem by recycling death into new life. Chardiet's exploration of grief, loss and the concept of rebirth through decay is both unsettling and cathartic. Maggot Mass is a visceral, thought-provoking album that confronts the discomfort of our existence and the destructive impact of human life on the natural world.