Skrew - Dusted (1994)Release ID: 7146
For those who enjoy Ministry, would you like a bit more sauce for your industrial metal dish? Skrew adds in some thrashy vocal fuel. The band has been well-known and well-touring since their debut Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame. I haven't yet listened to that album, but perhaps I will after this one! Dusted shows the band, unlike some other industrial metal bands, focusing less on experimentation and more towards guitar heaviness from frontman Adam Grossman. He has truly mastered the guitar, vocals, and songwriting. Interesting that he let a death growler took over vocals in their recent comeback album though...
Grossman is very much responsible for keeping his band going and giving them a more metal sound that some industrial rock bands can't get away with. In some ways, they can be similar to Ministry in terms of the use of samples and overdubs. But hey, scr*w that comparison! This is Skrew we're talking about, and they done their industrial metal sound better than most other bands of the genre in the first half of the 90s.
"In Tongues" starting the album with audio samples and noise is a similar idea to the beginning of Embodyment's Embrace the Eternal. Of course, instead of early deathcore, there will be melodic industrial metal not too far off (in terms of style, not time) from Deathstars. That sound can be found in "Seeded". Then "Picasso Trigger" shows that this band is probably slightly more underrated than Ministry. The intro f***ing kicks a**! I'm sure Beavis and Butthead fans would recognize this song. Also in a slightly higher level than Ministry is "Albatross", which is quite a monster within those chords.
"Jesus Skrew Superstar" cranks up the thrash, the way Fear Factory and Strapping Young lad would the following year. "Skrew Saves" adds in a bit of experimentation that gives the sound more in common with Mushroomhead than Mnemic. "Season for Whither" bursts out with rich groove all over. However, there's more of that groove in some of the later highlights here...
"Sour" has more sludgy groove throughout these 7 minutes, pretty much their own different take on Ministry's epics. "Mouthful of Dust" is another great kick-A track pleasing industrial metal fans, filled with monk-like chanting. "Godsdog" is the closest we have to a Godflesh-like sound, at least what Godflesh would have in the late 90s.
Need some anger to cure you from anger? Industrial metal fans can pick up Dusted any f***ing day! It's a stage set for more refreshing levels the band would reach later on. I don't know if it's any better than their debut, likely because I've not tackled that one, but I got the motivation I needed from their second album Dusted. It's not too impressive, yet highly innovative. For the greatest industrial metal listeners, this one's a keeper....
Favorites: "Picasso Trigger", "Albatross", "Jesus Skrew Superstar", "Sour", "Mouthful of Dust"
