Black Lung

"The Coming Dark Age" (Album, 2005)

Given the price of a barrel of oil is at an all-time high, combined with an almost global credit crunch and general economic turmoil being suffered across the planet right now, it seemed a very appropriate time to catch up with this 2005 album from David (Snog) Thrussell's Black Lung project. Part 60s SF film score, part dark dance music and part soundtrack to the end of the world as we know it, The Coming Dark Age is an instrumental, electronic exploration of the foolishness of an over reliance on oil as the key driver in the global economy.

Titles like Karmageddon, Armies of Oil, and Towards The Petro-Apocalypse spell out, should anyone be in any doubt, where Thrussell is coming from. Those familiar with the Aussie's passions (or obsessions if one was being unkind) for doing all he can through the medium of music to expose the global consumerist conspiracy will lap this up as rapidly as stockmarkets quiver every time Russia threatens to switch off the taps on the pipelines spidering beyond their borders.

Given that the topic lies as the heart of David Thrussell's boundless angst, one might expect this to sound (and be) far more traumatic and disturbing than it actually is. The Coming Dark Age is much more considered, reflective even than I expected. It's a clever move because, as a result, this is way more engaging than any audio polemic would have been (somthing Thrussell is not afraid to produce). And whilst you never forget that you're listening to something with a profoundly held personal message spread across the throbbing, bubbling, musical bleeps and beats, it's rich enough simply as an album of music to work on a conventional listening level too. 8/10

Rob Dyer (August, 2008)