V:28 

Violution

Vendlus Records 2007

V:28 return and with their 3rd album, Violution the trilogy is now complete.  The darkened and apocalyptic future that exists within the soundscapes created by these industrial death metallers has grown bleaker yet more powerful and fully realized.  I think with Violution, V:28 have finally been able to bring all their artistic visions to a fruition in a manner which they had been unable to previously.  For example on The Absolute some stellar clean vocals clamber their way from beneath the throbbing and brooding programmed beats and mournful guitars.  This adds a new dimension to V:28's sound previously unexplored.  And so goes the rest of the album.  New angles and sounds spring to life from the scorched earth.  Some of the fastest material V:28 have recorded appears on the opening of Shut it Down.  Whereas Pattern of the Weak is more midtempo and finds V:28 using the trilling guitar rhythms and pounding beats that their previous albums introduced us to as their trademark style.  No song on this album is a weak spot.  They are all strong in their own right and shine like nebulous pulsars in deep space.  However Desert Generator has to be my favorite track as it chugs along alternating rhythms like a warmachine in battle while subtle keyboards create a mood of despair and raise up monuments of hopelessness within a landscape devoid of life.  But as soon as I make a bold statement like that, Can You See the Light Now? usurps that exalted position of album favorite with its stop and start guitars and wailing leads.   Many famous musicians guest on Violution like Garm of Ulver, Mike VanPortfleet of Lycia, and Ghost of GGFH.  The only problem that I have is that sometimes the samples of the spoken voices are too low in the mix and it makes it hard to hear what is being said.  V:28 have finally blossomed into everything their previous albums have promised.  And I am eager to discern from them whether or not this is the end for V:28.  If it is I will be very sad as V:28's trio of albums have been a set of bright spots within the ever colder and more barren landscape of the musical underground.  Without V:28 the underground truly will be "choking on black liquid death."