Review: v01d – 'Greeted As Liberators'

V01D
'Greeted As Liberators'
ARTOFFACT RECORDS

Toronto-based industrial producer Joe Byer, AKA v01d has been taking his time in writing the sophomore offering to his 2009 album 'This Is Not A False Alarm Anymore'. But after seven years the results of his labours are unveiled in the form of 'Greeted As Liberators' a master-class in old school techno meets industrial rock/metal. Odd time signatures, vocoders, searing guitars and infectious synth leads contort and morph around each other for a unique take on the fundamentals that made industrial rock in the late 80s and early 90s so damn exciting.

Tracks such as 'All Of The Rage', 'Abhor A Vacuum', 'Veils Will Fall', 'Walk It Back', 'Wave After Wave' and, 'The Sun Is Late' evoke the likes of 'The Fragile' era Nine Inch Nails meets revered names such as Pig, Pop Will Eat Itself, Front 242, and The Young Gods. It is a wonderful and intelligent blend of styles and genres that doesn't try to recreate the past glories of the genre. Instead it goes where it wants to, both sonically and thematically, challenging the listener and confounding the expectations that have once again built up around the revival of the industrial rock scene.

Production-wise, there may be nods to those classic bands but it is a very 21^st century sounding album. It is gritty and experimental in places yes. There may be minimalistic beats and lots of feedback and distortion when it is needed. But it fresh, clean, and can easily compete with anything in the genre today.

'Greeted As Liberators' may be a short album by today's standards, but it packs a major punch. Byer has taken his time and it shows in a good way. The songs are well written, constructed and performed with great attention to detail throughout. Yet the album isn't over produced, it has the grit and grime a good industrial rock album should have, while maintaining both the more experimental and melodic elements in equal measure. It may have been a long time coming, but this was an album worth the wait.

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