 American Porn Songs |Metropolis Records, 2009| 
Alkali, Enjoy The Pain, With Fire and Burning, American Porn Song, Blessed, To Hell, It Turns All Bad, Blackbird, The Lord Doesn’t Want Her, Become Your None, Can You Find God?, Orange Insect, Useless People, Somebody To Hate, American Bomb Song
Quite possibly the most anticipated release of 2009, 16 Volt's American Porn Songs, has finally been unleashed on industrial's rock based salivating fans. The resulting disc of 15 hard driving, industrial laced hard rock and metal tracks is not only satisfying, but has an exceptionally polished sound that proves that 16 Volt are at the top of their game. Opening the disc is "Alkali," a mid-tempo track that churns in to a wall of guitar assault, grasping at the listeners backbone and forcing them to shout along to its infectious chorus.
As the opening track fades, the evil cynicism and snakelike wit that listeners have come to appreciate and expect from 16 Volt's almost two decade existence pushes deep in to the ears of the listener, unfolding to reveal a biting sing along chorus, sweet in it's harmonies but knifelike and stabbing as it concludes it's sinister message. This is the savage way of "Enjoy the Pain," and never has physical injury sounded so good before.
"With Fire and Burning" blazes a familiar yet seemingly uncharted territory for 16 Volt. A track with copious amounts of saccharine pressured and tempered by soaring guitar lines and a sense of underlying sadness. It's a track that sinks sagaciously in to the psyche, inadvertently finding the listener jockeying for ways to sing along to the track long before the song fades away, after only the first listen!
The title track is a familiar rendition that has been in the 16 Volt archives for many years, but with the help of long time and more recent associates of the 16 Volt camp, it gets a welcome update. Forged in blood and seedy dystopian ideals, "American Porn Songs" is a damaging dissection of archaic and foul idealism hidden by glossy exteriors and diversions of grandeur in excess.
As the disc begins to crest, "Blessed" drives a post hardcore sleekness of the verse across a thick bass driven melody, accompanied by a drop tuned wall of guitars, followed by a street tough chorus delivered by an army of angry vocalists. Involuntarily pumps of the fist at the conclusion of the line "I'm so blessed by your presence" is a natural reaction and should not be repressed.
Perhaps the most playful song on American Porn Songs is "To Hell." By incorporating break beat and electronic zeal, the selection sells itself on not only it's up-tempo, club-like, dance-in-your-chair attitude, but also on it's ability to show that 16 Volt is forward thinking. And having a band that is comfortable NOT rehashing its coldwave roots is not only refreshing, but also beneficial to its sustainability and inevitable longevity.
16 Volt is not all about blistering the listener with relentless assaults on the body and ears, but for capturing sentimentality, darkness and imploring the audience to reflect on their very existence, even if it is dark and depressing. So when "Turns All Bad" breaks the unrelenting guitar assault, the breather at the center of the disc captures an epic sadness with uplifting choruses rife with desolation and isolation. Has 16 Volt gone emo? Hardly.
If the blistering rock dance on this disc can't contribute a memorable lyric or melody by this point, then "Blackbird" is certain to change all of that. A compelling head bobbing groove ensues upon the song's opening, and an angsty drive and abrasive motivation are found here, rich in all its glory.
Industrial music isn't really known for creating memorable songs that rely on odd time signatures, since the 4/4 beat replicated around a pulsing mechanical sound tends to move the feet much more easily in normal life and club oriented situations. But leave it to Eric Powell and company to throw a track like "The Lord Doesn't Want Her" at the listener, and make it work.
As the disc moves along at its quickening pace, "Become Your None" hits full force like a sledgehammer in a china shop. It is uncompromising and heavy in its delivery, plodding along with its assembly line rhythmic pulse, crushing rather convincingly with each turn of the measure.
Questions abound and are plentifully asked by the next track "Can You Find God?" a weighty track both in sound and lyrical content. Challenges to conventional institutions and a plea for zealots to check themselves at the door, as well as personal analysis within the confines of the divine and theological barriers in past and modern society give this song 16 Volt's most daring inquisition to date. The tracks brooding psychedelic electronic foundation helps add to the mysterious disposition of the track, an unsettling feeling not lost on this reviewer, even after dozens of listens.
Such unsettling themes don't run their course yet, as the weird lyrical allusion to the "Orange Insect" casts a shadowy pall over the broken relationships and shattered dreams weaved so intricately over a crushing, windowpane shaking guitar riff.
And what would a 16 Volt album be without exposing a general despise and loathing for a segment of the population that holds back those of us who strive for a better life? Can we move forward without acknowledging our own faults, or do we have to be guided like sheep by seemingly infallible leaders of our lies-driven society? Or can we just find these people and tell them "Fuck You!!" According to "Useless People," we most certainly can.
Before the album closes out with the equivalent of an atomic audio bomb (complete with a rhythmic drive intertwined with a meticulously dark electro tempo), "Somebody to Hate" becomes an absolute barnburner. With its pile driving, cement cracking, drop tuned, runaway freight train, moshpit inducing, electro punk mayhem, it serves as the perfect cap to a set already rife with memorable tracks.
The core of Eric Powell, Mike Peoples and John Servo DeSalvo, are joined by a thoroughly seasoned cast of characters that essentially make up a relevant sampling of artists from the present and future of industrial rock. The disc features appearances by Steve White (KMFDM), Scott Robison (Drone, New Slaves), Jason Bazinet (SMP), Bildeaux Sarver (Ohn), Tim Skold, Sean Payne (Cyanotic), Jeremy Inkel (Left Spine Down), Joe Bishara and Marc Lacorte, a collection that would make any collaborator jealous.
Quite possibly the finest release in the 16 Volt catalog due to its high production value, quality song structure and overall infectious nature of all of the tracks as a combined unit, American Porn Songs is a must have for the 16 Volt purist as well as those looking for a way to get introduced to 16 Volt's glitched out testosterone laced world. (Joseph Graham)
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