Bleepity bleep-bloop! Sorry, where was I? Oh yes, Drill is the fifth Noise Unit album, a project originally formed by Bill Leeb (Front Line Assembly) and Marc Verhaeghen (Klinik). This album is brought to us by Leeb and Rhys Fulber (also of FLA) with Verhaeghen and Haujobb providing additional creative input.
Continuing from where the last album, Decoder left off, Drill is almost an hour long, consisting of nine lengthly but meaty tracks, all of a similiar nature. The album is totally devoid of lyrics, and when I consider what Bill's lyrics on Front Line's recent Hard Wired were like, I begin to think that this is probably all for the best!
The Drain is the first track, which starts with sweeping atmospheric effects, slowly building up into a more complicated electronic piece over a techno backbeat. The same formula is used on all the rest of tracks, Prostitute being especially memorable for the way everything comes together to reach a zenith during the chorus. The lack of lyrics also means Leeb has found room to really go to town with a vast array of cool samples.
Noise Unit doesn't really leap out and grab you in the way that the sharp tangyness of a Blackcurrent Hooch would; rather the Drill album presents you with massive, digestible chunks of industrial techno to slowly chomp your way through in your own time.
Even so, the vast, trance-like soundscapes are impressive to behold, with the clever layering of synths against sampled guitar loops. If I were to return to my alcoholic beverage analogy, Drill can be thought of as a solid pint of Carlsberg after a hard days work at the chicken reprocessing plant. A pretty neat album. (DH)
[1997]
