Disturbance Disordered

Album review

Disturbance marks the return of British industrial pioneers Test Dept., who formed in the early '80s and were known for their usage of found percussion, often salvaged from scrap yards, as well as their elaborate multimedia events staged at site-specific locations. When last heard from in the late '90s, they had embraced techno and drum'n'bass, and their sound was much more in line with that of free party sound system Spiral Tribe than Einstürzende Neubauten. With the right-wing ideals of the '80s dangerously returning to the forefront during the 2010s, the group felt it was necessary to reactivate. The first album from the rebooted Test Dept. is an update of their '80s aesthetic, with metallic percussion, dramatic samples, and aggressive, political lyrics all forming the basis of the group's sound. The stomping beat, sampled rally chants, and distorted vocals of "Landlord" resemble what Test Dept. would've sounded like if they'd followed the electro-industrial current of the '90s, but rather than the dead-end nihilism of much of that scene, this is a much more urgent call for resistance. "Debris" is a weightless, piano-filled meditation on self-empowerment, recalling the group's more atmospheric releases such as Terra Firma. "Full Spectrum Dominance" and "Information Scare" are filled with tense, clattering beats and alarming samples, not unlike the group's older material, but with vastly improved sound design. "Gatekeeper" melds pounding, clanging percussion with haunting choral vocals, and lyrics making reference to "fascistic populism," ominously ending with the words "for better or worse." "Two Flames Burn" begins with polyrhythmic, gamelan-like bell patterns, growing more furious yet maintaining a sense of purpose, speaking of "A flame of anger, a flame of hope."

© Paul Simpson /TiVo