Fans of Fuck Buttons, rejoice – we now have two acts for the price of one.
The second album by Blanck Mass (aka Benjamin Power of FB) largely supplants the hazy synth wash of its predecessor with a supercharged sound that has much in common with his main band. In fact, in a blind taste test, it may be hard to distinguish the two, but that’s hardly cause for complaint.
Using synths, drum machines and processed vocals, Power creates awe-inspiring planets of sound that feel like the soundtrack to a dystopian nightmare.
The thunderous single Dead Format is an unholy union of galloping techno and oddly catchy synth-pop, and Double Cross is similarly quick to go for the jugular, but even when Power takes a subtler approach – as on Atrophies and Lung – these queasy symphonies demand total submission.
