“Hey check out this industrial metal horror duo from Toowoomba called Neural Dust” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue when you say it out loud but after listening to their debut album Human Face Machine, I’ll be on the hunt to see these guys perform live.
Overall, the duo has created a dramatic Australia goth album that doesn’t let up. Relentless drum beats with a sound scape that transforms you to all your fav horror themes with the vocalist as your personal guide into the unknown. You will also here samples, synth, elements of strings and many other fun sounds that add to each song. It goes without saying, for two musicians, they sure make a lot of noise!
The album opens with a classic David Bowie sample (a clear warning of technology), before the first song ‘Psthuman’ kicks in. My ears instantly hear a very well balanced, well mixed song, with a great drum sound. Then come the deep throat drenched vocals that instantly let you know this isn’t some hardcore band screaming at you, the vocals have a lot of pain and feeling coming out of them.
We continue through the tracks and as I reach the song ‘Rorshanch’ I begin to wonder if all these songs are in fact connected or if they individual short stories based around the same theme. The deep bounding vocal tones act as a warning ushering you through each section of the album accompanied with samples and sound bites. The underlying album concept clearly stands out in some songs more than others, such as the song ‘Approaching the Sun by Boat’ that starts with a sample warning, a verbal message about machines….giving me SKYNET vibes. (This makes me feel warm inside because now I know, I’m not the only person who still has recurring terminator dreams)
Back to the song ‘Approaching the sun by boat’, a bittersweet instrumental of sorts yet I hear in the back of the mix, a deep vocal tone that adds a layer of low hum into the mix that joins the bass, very cool. The piano intro makes me think the members of Neural Dust might like John Carpender almost as much as I do. Then track 5 ‘LOAB’ kicks in and my appreciation for the vocals is peaking. Great intro, great melody that leads into electric guitar. I now feel like eating meat over and open flame with Dusk till Dawn playing on a project in the background without sound.
This album came out in April so I expect it will be some time before we get another onslaught of songs. I’d love to see them experiment even more, Let’s see what happens when they make a 5- or 7-min song and really explore some softer quiet tones to give those huge choruses even more space and impact.
If you like artist such as Rammstein, John Carpenter, or even Nell’Ora Blu, then check out this industrial metal horror album from two dudes in Toowoomba creating havoc out of a dairy hut.
Written by Wesley von Grabill
