Are you ready for the sounds of the apocalypse? Sounding like a slow death march in the pits of the abyss, dark choirs, static layered haunting ambiences, and huge crashing percussion drive forward this short intro track, setting a perfect mood for Cardinal Noire's 2018 release "Deluge". Short, fat, and saturated electro-basslines pound quickly across a distorted and reverb drenched cacophony of maddening pounding drums and percussion (which never let up for a second) as the second track (And first full track) kicks in. Layer after layer of drums and noise fading in and out of each other come in to create one of the wildest storms of industrial percussion I've heard in a while (giving even the vulnerable Too Dark Park a run for it's money). Distorted and processed vocals howls and snarl at you like a rapid wolf preparing to tear you apart for a final meal. The album carries this feeling of non stop frenzy throughout most of the tracks. Many of the sounds are sequenced and arpeggiated, but never bore from it, with either the sounds themselves, or the particular arp lines programmed, being wild enough in character that the mechanical nature to the rhythm never seems to feel to stiff.
Crash boom screech, if you like pounding electronic noise centered around some of the fastest basslines you can still imagine being groovy. And somehow despite the destructive nature of much of the release, the whole album manages to have a humanistic groove and emotion to it. From the care and attention taken into the rise and fall of the transitions, to the multitude of inter-layered sounds that all perfectly play off each other, this album never fails to deliver powerful and emotionally resonate music. Whether it be anger, inspiration, fear, or hope this album knows how to draw you into the tracks and come out feeling strongly. The best music is the sort of music that leaves a deeper part of itself with you after the listening experience, and this album truly manages to capture that. One of the better industrial albums to come out in the last while, truly makes me interested to see where this band is heading with it's musical evolution.
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