Souless Affection - Shattered

It never fails to amaze me just how powerful music can be - especially when it's based around survival of one of the cruellest of life's challenges - child abuse.

Wraith (Vox) and Scandal (Lead Synth) may be familiar already by the creation of the excellent 'Don't Mess with Industrial' series, and the previous signing with Twisted Flesh, before the label disbanded.

Note that this album is about as personal as personal can be - we talked previously about it's dedication to surviving and eradicating child abuse (something that Wraith, tragically, has horrible experience of), but as a result of this, a charity is currently being set up by Wraith (Broken Dreams Foundation) - to which proceeds of this album will go. Once this has been finalised and set up officially, we will feature an article detailing the trust and any information benefactors may need.

With 'Shattered', I am hoping to have more of the same from 'Epidemic' - fast paced, traditionally violent 'Harsh EBM' with samples and lyrics that deeply unsettle me and get the point across - 'Rape of an Angel' is possibly the first song that has truly made me feel like a horrible human for listening to it - it's quite evident from the theme of this project's existence exactly what it's about, and it's actually bought me to a standstill on two occasions - exactly what this band want to achieve - an audience, and a wider understanding of this horrible abuse that children everywhere are subjected to daily.

'Shattered' is as dark as dark is going to get, which may already deter a few of you, but underneath the veil, the music is top quality.

'If Angels Cry' starts with a sombre wind instrument that sounds like it's playing a version of the heartbreakingly poignant 'Last Post', and builds up to a 'Lexincrypt' style of Dark Electro - you know it's going to be morbid and unhappy in nature before you hear a word of the lyrics - for example :

"Too many times, I cry myself to sleep. Wounds are superficial, but the pain is so deep - You said you save me, but your eyes did lie. Gonna find out tonight if Angels cry" - One can be forgiven for thinking them a little on the emotional side, but what do you expect when you consider all that has happened to influence this CD?

'Phantasm' steals the entire show and becomes the most psychological track on here, but musically also the most entertaining - it's a kick in the stomach to anyone who is able to overcome the idea of this album, and with a closing refrain of :
"Enjoy your hallucination - The outter shell of total darkness, Can you feel your cerebral cortex caving in?" it becomes instant that we're being schooled on the mental abuse as well as the physical abuse - this is like a virus, and the title of 'Epidemic' from the first album suddenly becomes so relevant.

Later on the CD, we encounter 'Enemy' which was among the best tracks on the Texas Industrial sampler mentioned above, 'Broken Dreams' (in which the victim becomes the abuser, making for some truly horrific lyrics), the plea that is 'Release my Soul', and my personal favourite in terms of concept : 'Salvation' - a track that is truly beautiful, a rarity in the Harsh EBM genre - for example, the following verse :

"Alcohol, drugs, abuse, no life of sin.
You'll never feel dirty hands upon your skin.
Even through the toughest trials of man,
I will always be the one there holding your hand
The sands of time expire, and I am gone."

Let's be totally honest, anyone with children will feel absolutely overwhelmed by that, and as an entire package, this is fifty-two minutes of endurance, yet carries an addictive need to see it out time and time again.

SA may not be an act for everyone, and may not quite be on the verge of claiming the Harsh EBM scene, but they're not far off, and honestly, nothing I have heard in Industrial yet has ever been so relevant, powerful, and emotionally destroying - Wraith has poured his entire being into this album, and it's delivered so well that most of us can feel his agony and relate to it.

A powerful, majestic, honest and truly genuine act, with one of the finest albums in months. Should this charity be set up, I know it's going to do very well indeed. Feb 25 2012