Blood Command

Citing such disparate influences as Swedish hardcore ensemble Refused and German-Caribbean disco-doyens Boney M is an oh-so-po-mo-manner of now-fact and an historo-challenge that requires a lot of living up to. The question is are Blood Command cool daddies or trickbags?

Thematically provocative and topically incisive Cult Drugs addresses those rigid and dogmatic belief systems that wreak havoc on the individual/collective psyche: religions, cults, gangs and secret societies that all act similar to drug dependency with narco-bliss replaced by the (al)lure of the esoteric, the unknown, the transgressive yet still restrictive and constrictive, a bind is a bind. Systems of fear structured to limit, inhibit and control.

The role-playing of the ‘fame game’, the compromises and falsity fostered and its attendant erosion of self is exquisitely articulated on ‘CTRL + ART + DELETE’ an eviscerating and lacerating ear-battering soundscape.

‘You can’t sit with us’ adroitly discusses the literary merits and fantasy realms of Tolstoy and E.L. James and the blurred cinematic lines between fact and fiction, reality and surreality. The conclusion a thumping thwack round the senses.

This isn’t an easy listen by any means and it depends on your tolerance for gut-wrenching screeching and passion for emote-rock. At times evoking echoes of Kathryn Hanna’s Riot Grrrl angernomics, fillets of Faith No More and occasional JJ Burnelesque asphyxiated-bass (especially on the punk-funk ‘Quitters don’t smoke’) this is an album that reveals greater depth upon repeated airings. The lyrics are a joy.

If I’m honest I can’t hear any trace of the Boneys here, but, osmosis is an ethereal thing. Nevertheless, follow these sanguine orders and comply.