Acidrodent - of human toxicity

In the never ending and still ongoing series that I've titled "Bands Which Deserve Attention, But I Haven't Been Able To Get Around To Them Until Now" comes Chicago based Acidrodent, also known as tsmith. That name might sound familiar if you listen to mindfluxfuneral, inbetweennames, or bowlfinger, as the man is a part of each of those projects. 

Created in 2012, Acidrodent has been steadily releasing material since March of that year, which includes four albums, two EPs, and a single. His industrial metal style blends well with dubstep (not the shitty, EDM wobbly styled music that had its run and died swiftly after everyone realized how fucking retarded it was), dark electro, and pure hate. 

Acidrodent also makes it clear to sound off on anyone with an opinion, with the description of the band reading out as a motto, culminating with the phrase, "Acidrodent is a giant middle finger." He's a funny guy. Anyway, his latest album that released back in April is "of human toxicity", and I'm here to judge it. 

"of human toxicity" isn't only tsmith, however. Vocalist Roland Zwaga leads the band forward with digital distortion; Karen Righeimer adds an extra dose of bass to everything, and also provides background vocals on 'bombs away'; and additional analog noises on 'bombs away' comes from Prophei. But, with all that said, let me actually talk about the music on the album. 

I'll start off with the bad as there's so little that it barely marred my opinion much at all. I wasn't much a fan of the first song 'bombs away' at all. I know the vocals were purposefully messed with, but I just could not allow myself to enjoy the somewhat auto-tuned, somewhat robotic touch to them. Not only that, but I have heard a multitude of other electronic rock based songs that use similar touches and mechanics that I found myself thinking the music was just okay. 

HOWEVER, after that first song, the rest of the album was an absolute jolly good joy ride to get through. Starting with 'broken', I completely took in the darkened tone and thundering metal guitar surrounded by slamming electronic beats and drums. The vocals beckoned forth a guttural growl, perfectly situating themselves in the midst of the track. 

Letting the electronics take more of a stage than before, 'eater' simplified the guitar notes, allowing them to be longer but well placed. The logicality of it all made each strike and note hit home. After a sampled line, 'a troubled romance' became even more ominous than previous tracks. 'In praise of school shootings' delivered a sick synthline and the title itself is enough to start a riot. Pair that with awesome warzone effects placed within the song, this undoubtedly came to be a favorite of mine. 

The title track came next, and stayed within a very slowed down realm, making itself sound like previous songs just...Well, as I said, slowed down. The effect may seem simple, which it kind of is, but it was pulled off very well. 'close your eyes' provided a mix of cleaner, but strained vocals and robotic chords. This song strayed from the industrial metal style we've come used to and actually strayed more towards electro-industrial. 

'vomit me a river' had a very oddly timed synth section at the three minute twenty second mark, but not in a bad way. It was just so unexpected. It paid off in the end, however, and was quite bright in comparison to most of the other sections on the album. I felt as if the music did overpower the vocals in 'bones under pressure', but that slight mishap did not make me feel outrage toward the song. Lastly, an industrial/ambient mix of sounds came along with 'pyre'. There is a slight bit of rhythm underneath all the noise that comes forth, but it's a calming wall of static noise and ambient textures that flow forth and keep the tone of the track serene. 

And, coming off the end of the album, I'll say that I enjoyed every last bit of it other than that first song. The tracks are well structured, have enough surprises to keep it grounded in either a full album run, or a mix of songs, and a plethora of lyrical content always keeps the end game saturated with material. The darker and sometimes penetrating themes that come with Acidrodent are an in-your-face and give fuck-all about any opinions spouted about it, and that'll keep these guys going. 

Right now, the album is available for a mere six bucks via Acidrodent's Bandcamp page, so go check it out and lose nothing more than a few minutes, or gain something by listening to this enjoyable album. 
Aug 08 2015