Unnatural Channel

Album review

Drew McDowall has stated that there's no difference between what he creates as a solo artist and his previous work as a member of industrial legends Coil during the '90s and early 2000s. While there really is no comparison to the inspired madness of the sadly departed Balance and Christopherson, McDowall clearly remains an expert at constructing tense, brooding soundscapes. Unnatural Channel is his second solo full-length, and a definite improvement over his 2015 debut Collapse. This one flows better and seems more focused, even if it remains abstract and hazy. Using a combination of modular synthesizers and acoustic sound sources, McDowall builds shifting, amorphous textures which fluidly lapse into throbbing, clanging rhythms. Roxy Farman of Wetware contributes vocals to two tracks, and on "This Is What It's Like," she whispers about being sleep deprived over an appropriately somnambulant industrial thud. The album's two-part title track is truly mesmerizing, particularly during its dizzying second half, where it takes off on an evil robot death march. Farman returns at the end of the album for the brief, convulsive "Unshielded," chanting "I am gonna get you" before the track hits a sudden end. Sounding like neither a typical modular synth or industrial record, Unnatural Channel is highly inventive and original, and intoxicating from start to finish.
© Paul Simpson /TiVo