Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Techno Animal

The Brotherhood Of The Bomb

Label: Matador Records Release Date: 11/09/2001

jrawcliffe by Jonathan Rawcliffe July 29th, 2001

There are two ways to deal with the music on this record – “You either react with your body or feel totally threatened by it.” That’s what Justin Broadrick and Kevin Martin reckon anyway, and they should know – they are Techno Animal, and they want to deaden your head by giving you temporary ‘bass concussion’.

If that sounds appealing, be aware that Broadrick and Martin have spectacularly succeeded in their aim. ‘The Brotherhood Of The Bomb’ is abrasive, confrontational, and is festooned with the kind of growling basslines that could remove plaster from nearby walls. This is good news. In a world where so much music is either wilfully apologetic or just pathetically meek, ‘The Brotherhood…’ is a wild thug, a violent, intimidating volcano of noise distilled inside a compact disc.

Despite the duo’s moniker, this is not ‘Techno’, at least, not in the expected sense. Rather, it is Technological, a hybrid of hip-hop, harsh beats, and feedback, interspersed with several terrifying noise collages. Often the tracks are mere ruins of songs, collections of disjointed sounds fuelled by a desire to “make the machines scream and speak,” and bearing such telling titles as ‘Robosapien’, ‘Hypertension’ and ‘Piranha’.

Selecting vocalists to front such turmoil can’t have been an easy process. Step forward Anti-Pop Consortium’s Priest and El P, ex of Company Flow, both of whom deliver suitably stirring performances on ‘Glass Prism Enclosure’ and ‘We Can Build You’ respectively.

In truth though, ‘The Brotherhood…’ is most effective when there are no traces of human activity to distract from the intense mechanical cacophony which rages underneath. ‘Freefall’ and ‘Monoscopic’ don’t need words to accompany them – much like a scream, they are simplistic enough to be understood by anyone, whichever language they speak.

  • 9
    Jonathan Rawcliffe's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

Fuzz Lightyears

Girl Song

Mobback

The Vines at Camden Electric Ballroom, Camden, Thu 19 Feb

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND