XMH - In Your Face

Vlissingen, Netherlands hard electro outfit XMH are back with their mind-blowing third studio album In Your Face. On this record, vocalist and producer Benjamin Samson moves to extend and fortify XMH's decimating signature sound. In Your Face transcends the taxonomy of aggressive electronic music styles, drawing heavily from aggrotech and injecting the tracks with uncontainable Dutch hardstyle intensity.

Speaking of intensity, In Your Face is a consistently energetic album, with the average BPM being 140-150. Its hard electro assault is characterised by deep kicks, visceral bass and piercing synth melodies, and although hardstyle buildups and hardcore sensibilities are prevalent throughout, Samson deviates from the textbook aggrotech formula by applying virtually no processing to the vocals.

The album begins with the infectious lead synth loop of The Business, and the song evolves into a solid punch in the face with menacing lyrics and pulsating bass line. The anthemic banger Product ups the energy levels with a triumphant ferocity and shout-along lyrics that lampoon consumerism, as Samson combines his vocals with those of keyboard player Isa Garcia. This vocal layering has been given a good amount of attention on In Your Face and works especially well on Great and Unfortunate Things.

Failing Technology explores the potential effects of a technological uprising and marks one of the slower moments on the album, serving as a foreboding interlude to break up the record. Then, it's business as usual - the title track explodes with a pulsating hardcore beat and reignites the album's forceful spirit. Towards the end of the record comes the electrifying standout track System Collapse, which is essentially a one-song crash course in creating superb EBM.

All up, In Your Face is a tremendous success - it's an airtight and virtually faultless LP, and a welcome addition to the sonic vaults of any serious rivethead. Aug 23 2014