"The Galway trio have created a post-apocalyptic world where the soundtrack to life reeks of industrial and death metal but has somehow been injected with a new-wave, avant-garde antidote that has given it a life of its own. And it’s that cocktail of sorts that makes Organ Blender a hugely compelling and highly absorbing proposition"
Right, so where do I start here! As that old saying goes, first impressions last, and my first impression of Organ Blender’s Teemu Khan was one of a deranged and frenzied mind that has spun out of all control, hurtling through some kind of parallel universe which is aesthetically futuristic, but at the same time, suppressed in a 90’s bubble. The Galway trio have created a post-apocalyptic world where the soundtrack to life reeks of industrial and death metal but has somehow been injected with a new-wave, avant-garde antidote that has given it a life of its own. And it’s that cocktail of sorts that makes Organ Blender a hugely compelling and highly absorbing proposition.
Electronic sampling opens the first track Will It Blend, with its industrial drums and its gritty gravelled vocals. That vibe continues right into Bear Song, with its unmistakable “Godflesh meets Ministry” musical concoction that pounds and crashes through filthy riffs and blurring bass lines. Tracks like Station bring another, more menacing presence into the mix with its guttural bellows and black-metal screeches, that become transfused with spoken samples and industrial clammer.
Rob Zombie riffs give Captain Krunch an identity and a face, maybe the album cover depicts this dark foreboding character we see in the future, who knows! Vocals run in parallel with the rhythm guitars, giving the track a groove and a pattern that sucks you in and feeds off your soul with those nasty vocals, crushing blast beats and sci-fi riffs. Tracks like Blast Choir continues that high tempo tirade, again, triggering memories akin to Ministry’s TV2, with that lo-fi production and its furious delivery. You gotta hand it to Organ Blender here, Teemu Khan never rests on its laurels, always a step ahead, always keeping you on your toes with its varied structures and tempos. Each track brings something fresh, unorthodox, and brilliantly bizarre!
I couldn’t possibly review and break down all 14 tracks on this album but what I will say is that each track, although firmly rooted in death and industrial metal, brings an eccentric but well-balanced blend of all musical styles, and fabricates something special and downright sublime. From the urban sampling at the end of King to the alarming and frantic pace of Meltdown, every track brings ridiculous energy and potency, but always stamped with its own USP.
The Faith No more inspired intro of Mr. Cool brings a very different vibe with it. Its simplistic but ingenious use of synths is a release from the mayhem and craziness that has gone before it. Even the techno inspired Teemu Khan is awash with originality, with the atmospherics leaning heavily on the futuristic presence of the album artwork. The final three tracks of the album, Voice, Space Rave and The Nasty 90’s take their inspiration from the darkwave and ambient spectrum of the metal scene. Its sinister and unnerving edge brings the listener on one final journey, a nightmare, where white noise and voices fill your head, making you feel uneasy and unsure. It’s a perfect way to finish an album that you will struggle to comprehend or even understand, but that doesn’t matter. It resonates with the masochistic and sadistic side of us, that part of the brain that we tend to draw a veil over and keep under lock and key, until now!