Fact Pattern / Dread Risks - Possession Therapy

Two of the industrial metal underground's upcoming artists, Fact Pattern and Dread Risks, have teamed up for a split release titled "Possession Therapy". And, well, that's about the best intro you're going to get from me because I just want to talk about the split right away. It begins with Fact Pattern's song 'Clinically Proven'; electronic blips that sound off like noises coming from a dead retro gaming console bleep in at first. A bit of static noise follows with it until the percussion and the distant vocals of Ian Flux come in. What follows is a pretty slamming industrial metal track who's rhythmic and machine-gun like percussion sticks out the most. I do wish that the vocals were more up front instead of situating themselves a bit too much in the background. I feel as if the band is up front on stage and that the singer is standing outside the venue, shouting through an open door to be heard. Still, the comical exaggeration does not mean that this song is worthless; it's quite good and well written. In an odd sense, I found 'Clinically Proven' to be relaxing. 



Fact Pattern kicked in with their next song, 'Cartel Blues'. As if the title didn't give it away, this song is slower paced and brings out the doom-metal influence Fact Pattern is steadily becoming known for. Once again, weird and noisy electronic blips make their way into the song; I still can't get away from the dying retro console comparison. This time it sounds like a transmission the poor device is trying to make before it keels over. Though the song keeps the fairly lax behavior of 'Clinically Proven', around the three-and-a-half minute mark Fact Pattern turns the song into an aggressive doom-metal song. Screams of rage takeover and the guitars take a dive in terms of pitch. It was great.

Thus ends Fact Pattern's contribution and comes in Dread Risks with their first song on the album 'Places You Fear Most'. The difference is immediate; Dread Risks homes in on a raw, electronic sound and less on traditional instrumentation. Growling vocals that I'm keen to compare to the early stages of aggrotech rip and tear throughout the song. What I like about the production as well is that, even though it contains a bit of lo-fi nastiness, the sounds on the song are not muddled with one another. They are distinguishable from one another and each layer just builds onto a further element of awe. 

The final song on the split comes courtesy of Dread Risks titled 'Vacancy Architect'. It features dark-pop artist Bara Hari as a guest vocalist. Dread Risks begins the song on his own with his howls and growls and roars. Around the half-minute mark Bara Hari comes in with her chords and, like a beauty-meets-beast scenario, they commit to a duel vocal session that is quite impressive. It's also quite awesome hearing Dread Risks commit to cleaner electronics on the track; it shows his diversity as an artist. Bara Hari's solo vocal-work is also not to be tripped over; she's tremendous in her own right. 

I do think I have exhausted my words in describing the EP; I normally do not commit to song-by-song analysis anymore as it often makes for a boring review and an even more boring read. However, the amount of variation found on "Possession Therapy" led to to do exactly that. So, here I shall just say that the EP is available for pre-order now and can be purchased for four USD at Bandcamp. Check it out. 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
Feb 13 2021