Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Sonic Violence - Jagd (1990)
One of the albums that marked a defining landmark in industrial metal is Godflesh's Streetcleaner. The torch would be shared with other different bands of this genre and era. While they don't the reach the same glory as Streetcleaner, the debut album by Sonic Violence comes close. The band releases two albums, including this one, and 3 EPs before disappearing for nearly 3 decades. Jagd is a bleak heavy continuation of Godflesh's sound in Streetcleaner, albeit by a much lesser-known band.
Guitars are the key, and so are the d*mn destructive drums! They're often slow and sludgy with not much speed. All just repetitive yet mighty rhythms. The guitars are pretty much rhythmic all the way through. There aren't any harmonics that are as slashing as the cover art (see what I mean!?). Those riff chords have an apocalyptic vibe and perfectly fit well with the bass and drums. As a result, the tone is filled with menacing power. Honestly, I love old-school industrial metal when it has that mechanical rage going on, unlike the more dance-y sh*t from some bands. You can't give the machine any impact to make it stop. The impact that happens is what the machine gives you.
A peaceful synth intro in "Saturation" plays before the bleak industrial riffing crashes in and crushes anything its path. Another track "Crystalization" has wild punky speed to spice things up a bit. "Blasphemer" continues that style sounding more active. However, I question its position in the tracklisting. The fast and slow songs should alternate between one another rather one category back to back and the other the same. Maybe if they fixed that problem, they would've been more popular than they've already been.
Next track "Tortured (Dub)" is quite an effective one. It starts with a sample of Mozart's "Dies Irae". Then we have devastating on-off guitar riffing in mechanical greatness. You can also hear some lovely synths later on. The harsh vocals fit greatly with the lyrics. Next track "Adrenalin" has a slow steady pace. "Ritual" is a loud puncher with simple yet intriguing lyrics, "For devotion, read mental abuse, to bind together, the love prostitutes". Next track "Symptom" is short and less varied, but it doesn't need to have a lot to sound awesome, especially in the final climax.
The final 3 tracks originally came from the Sacrifice to Strength EP recorded the previous year, starting with "Force". Sometimes you don't have to go as thrashy as God Forbid or The Haunted to sound metal, you can just things slow. "Manic" has some of the mechanical industrial metal Fear Factory would have a few years later. "Glory" shines with its industrial metal glory.
Sonic Violence has created an album of bleak heaviness that isn't as perfect as Streetcleaner but still amazing. This is for anyone into Godflesh and old-school industrial metal. Jagd might just be my favorite industrial metal album from 1990 or earlier that isn't Godflesh. A true recommendation!
Favorites: "Saturation", "Tortured (Dub)", "Ritual", "Symptom", "Glory"