16volt - Wisdom (CD)

The early '90s was a prosperous time for the industrial music underground, marking the transition toward a more caustic and aggressive sound. Advances in technology and production techniques allowed for a better integration of guitars into the synthesized nightmarish soundscapes and danceable clamor that defined the genre, allowing bands like Nine Inch Nails and Ministry to thrive in the mainstream while the underground began cultivating its own brand of noisy rock & roll with bands like KMFDM, Cubanate, and Chemlab rising to prominence. At the forefront of this new machine rock movement was 16volt, whose 1993 debut album Wisdom helped usher in the tropes of what would come to be referred to as 'coldwave.' Released on Re-Constriction Records subsidiary Cargo Records, Wisdom remains a prime example of 16volt's now signature blend of mechanical percussion and atmosphere with the guttural rawness of punk/rock guitars, topped off by front man Eric Powell's acerbic shouts and sinister w