CD, Bit Riot Records, 2009
www.everythinggoescold.com
Everything Goes Cold is a gritty addition to the metal/electro hybrid genre from Eric Gottesman, Kenny Pardo, and James Webb, which brings a sense of tongue-in-cheek humor to the general serious content of the genre. The samples on this album say a lot about the band’s sense of humor, being taken from cartoons and comedy films such as “Office Space”.
“Defrosted” enters the scene perfectly with a charming piano chord and a backdrop crescendo of high-paced drums and sample stutters and flies bipolarly into the next song. “Abort” is reminiscent of early industrial bands such as Sister Machine gun and Razed In Black – it beats the listener to attention with fast chorused drums and rapid fire guitar and in your face vocals. “Don’t quit Your Day Job” is catchy as can be with sharp synthlines and gritty drums complimenting the verbal disgust of the deadening 9-5 job. “I’ve sold Your Organs on the Black Market To Finance The Purchase of a Used Minivan” is a demonstration of a title being a shade of the song content; I would think it would be light hearted fluff song similar to Bloodhound Gang but instead I am pleasantly surprised with a bitter vocal attack of disappointing friendship. “Retry” is a barrage of glitched drums and sweeping chunky guitars reminiscent of Cyanotic. “The Droids You’re Looking For” starts with a great sample and thumps its way through a barrage of this sample rapidly shooting in and out of the percussive guitar riffs and high b.p.m. drums and drives me nuts that I can’t recall the source of the sample; midway it drops down for a second with a loop derived from Beastie Boys’ “Intergalactic”. “Bitch Stole My Time Machine” takes a sci-fi twist and adds come catchy synth hooks, reminiscent of later Die Krupps or Gravity Kills. “Unleash the Kraken” is a glitch-laden intermission followed by “Monsters of the Modern Age”, which comes with thumping low kicks and surging crystal club synths. “Ice Brigade” enters with dramatic orchestral hits and quickly changes its direction to house rides and slithering guitars and frequency altering arps. “Refrozen” is beautiful and moving, simple piano over groove set drums and layers of samples and “Fail” culminates the disk with a well-produced attack of choppy guitar, glitched vocals and epic chorus lines.
“vs. General Failure” album is a fun ride full of humour and aggressive patterns for any fan of the metal-electro genre and prior Bit Riot releases. The highlights for me were “Refrozen”, “Fail”, “I’ve sold Your Organs on the Black Market To Finance The Purchase of a Used Minivan”, “Bitch Stole My Time Machine” and “Unleash the Kraken”. A must have from a serious up and coming act.
[8.5/10]
— James Church