I think it’s safe to say that most of us tend to go for music that is more organic in its structure, flow, and essence simply because it’s an easier listen with it being all but effortless to fall into should a band crack its own personal code to bringing such magnificence to life, but there is always something to be said for those who go against that trend for one reason or another. There are more than a few avenues for us to choose from when it comes to material that knows just how to get under our skin like noise, but industrial, in particular, is one that I’ve not explored much of. As if to entrance me further into the depths of the style, Uranium’s newest is both precisely what we can come to expect from the sound while still keeping us guessing to the true power at play.

This is where metal starts to get a little tricky in more ways than one. It’s always tempting for the music in question to fall into the leanings of industrial sounds in an absolute offensive upon the human psyche while the metal simply in the background as what can feel like not much more than an after-thought, but it’s with names like Uranium that we’re able to see just how far that boundary can be pushed with both having equal parts to play in the performance at large. In no small way, “An Exacting Punishment” gloriously embodies that very vision with a deadly purpose to boot alongside the spirit to deliver such power with overwhelming domination at every turn. Five tracks that never once loosen their grip on your feeble neck, the title of this creation is exceedingly fitting by all notions. Every given moment of “An Exacting Punishment” is fiery to the very touch with every minute having a such crushing presence with the tenacity to match as not only do we find ourselves witnessing the raw power of industrial music at play here, the clear integration of black metal makes for a particularly voracious concoction that is as claustrophic, carnivorous, and acidic as one could ever dare ask for without a shred of compromisation to be had in the entirety of this 39-minute runtime. It’s the exact sort of ferocity that gets under your skin at every given opportunity, and, much like its namesake, Uranium makes damn sure that its impact is felt with death not an unlikely outcome for the unprepared.

As impenetrable as the world of industrial can seem to those who are unfamiliar with all that it can contain, acts like Uranium bring forth performances that I can only quantify as gripping for all that it dares to be for more than one reason. The very definition of what it means to be hostile yet such that you can’t rip yourself away from, “An Exacting Punishment” is a tremendous slab by all accounts with its depths only meant for those sadistic and masochistic enough to suffer the terrible trenches that Uranium calls home.

“An Exacting Punishment” releases on January 27th via Sentient Ruin Laboratories!

LISTEN to an advanced track from “An Exacting Punishment” on Bandcamp here, or via YouTube below.