The Pain Machinery

"Terminate Transmission" (Album, 2000)

Self Release

Swedish outfit The Pain Machinery certainly know what they want to achieve with their debut release and if you've a hard spot for traditional industrial with some noise/EBM thrown in for good measure then you can do no wrong with this. All the expected elements are present, a combination of harsh electronics and punishing guitars but there's old-skool metallic percussion and some equally old-skool-inspired sequencer patterns that will have more mature listeners reminiscing about the good old days.

Modesty isn't something you usually associate with this genre but there is a sense of that when listing to Terminate Transmission. I caught The Pain Machinery live in 2001, not having heard them before, and they stood out then and they stand out here too. Curiously, they do so not because they try to. For despite the potentially damaging effects of their sound, they're not in your face, they let the music do the convincing for them. And because the music is multi-layered rather than one dimensional it not only immediately grabs you simultaneously by the brain and the balls, but offers up further delights upon repeat visits. 7/10

Rob Dyer (February 2006)