Coda |Music Ration Entertainment, 2010|

01. Stay Sick (Album Mix), 02. Run, 03. The Knife, 04. Anna's Song, 05. Corporate Lunch, 06. Paid Vacation, 07. No Space, 08. Stay Sick (64K Mix)

Sounds of Mass Production (acronym: SMP) releases new albums from time to time, but the bands founder and main character behind the band - Jason Bazinet spent the last few years playing the drums and touring with such bands as Chemlab, 16Volt and Front Line Assembly most recently.

It seems as though Jason caught up with the roots of his musical inspirations on the newest SMP album. Smartly sampled guitars (“Run”, “Anna's Song”, “No Space”) certainly lay the foundation for aggressive tunes on certain songs. This formula combined with dynamic and repetitive rhythms (“The Knife”, “Corporate Lunch”) aim towards the EBM scene. The punk-crust rebel sound (“Paid Vacation”) makes a distinct mark and can also be found on the album. Coda includes a lot of rhythmic solutions borrowed from rap music (“Stay Sick”, “Run”). This seems to be a good idea considering that it automatically extends a field of expression over industrial rock music fans and crosses boundaries into a rapcore environment that has been well known for getting unquestionable support.
The album finishes with a mix performed by an electronic-rap side-project of Jason called 64K (“Stay Sick 64K Mix”).

Wade Alin, who is well known for co-operating with electronic acts such as Christ Analogue and iScintilla produced the album. There are also guest appearances by Ned Kirby (Stromkern), Dee Madden (Penal Colony), Mike Ostrander (64K), Chris DeMarcus (Stiff Valentine) and Dan Miura (The Crills).

Coda contains high quality songs and interesting arrangements that should be enough for any music fan to enjoy until the next SMP album release date is announced.

(Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz, 30/01/2011. Proofreading: Scott M. Owens. Must not be used for promotional or commercial purposes. See a Legal Note for the copyrights below)
The Treatment |Music Ration Entertainment, 2007|

1. F*** You, 2. I Waste You, 3. Metropolis, 4. Smart Bomb, 5. Tombstone, 6. Who is Who, 7. Corporate Freak, 8. Countdown, 9. Die For You, 10. Metropolis (Bounte Remix), 11. Need

Seattle has become a strong source of industrial rock in the last few years, and SMP (which stands for "Sounds of Mass Production") is one of the prime contributors to this scene. SMP is fronted by Jason Bazinet, who has collaborated, performed and remixed some of the biggest bands in the genre including 16volt and Chemlab. Those influences are reflected well on SMP’s 2007 album "The Treatment". This is a record that gets better with each play through, and should be listened to very loud.

Overall this is a very well produced album, with credit going to Christ Analogue’s Wade Alin for creating a consistently full sound throughout the record. The sonic quality of the instruments and mix is well balanced and sharp, creating beats and riffs that jump out and assault the ears of the listener. This is especially apparent on tracks such as "Countdown", where the drums and synths create grooves that are a delight to the ears. I literally couldn’t stop my head from bouncing to that hooky riff.

One of the best tracks on the album is "I Waste You". Here is an example of a perfectly executed Industrial Rock track. Machine-like guitars drive the rhythm along perfectly, while Bazinet’s vocals create a melodic gloss to the chorus. This is a wonderfully produced track, and to me represents the best of what the Treatment has to offer.
Another standout track for me that has found itself being played repeatedly on my iTunes (and in my head) is "Tombstone". This track reminds me in a way of White Zombie or similar bands – The guitar riff is huge and groovy, while the chorus is hooky as hell. This is the type of track I could see driving huge crowds into a frenzy.

My only complaint with this album is the vocals on the tracks "Metropolis" and "Need" (and obviously the included remix of "Metropolis" by Bounte). I personally have a hard time with the hip-hop style delivery of the vocals. This isn’t because they are necessarily bad, just that I prefer the sound of Bazinet’s vocals when he is singing out full and strong. To my ears, the rap/rock vocals simply don’t hold up to the stronger, more melodic delivery on the other tracks. This is a minor criticism though, and I’m sure there are many people out there that will dig this kind of vocal direction.

SMP has been producing albums since 1995 and "The Treatment" is an excellent addition to their catalogue. In fact I would say that it is the best and most polished SMP record to date. Once Bazinet returns from his current drumming duties with 16Volt and Chemlab, I look forward to seeing where he takes SMP on the next album. No doubt it will be another heavy, solid record like The Treatment. (James Chapple, 06/21/2010. Must not be used for promotional or commercial purposes. See a Legal Note for the copyrights below)
Pissing on the Legacy |Music Ration Entertainment, 2008|

1. Corporate Freak (Bloodwire Remix), 2. Metropolis (Diskonnekted Remix), 3. Countdown (Databind Remix), 4. Tombstone (Hardwire Remix), 5. I Waste You (Digital Geist Remix), 6. F*** You (Albatrosse Remix), 7. Metropolis (Penal Colony Remix), 8. Tombstone (Stochastic Theory Remix), 9. I Waste You (Spinefolder Remix)

An American project SMP (Sounds of Mass Production, founded by Jason Bazinet and Sean Ivy in Seattle, 1992) decided this time to follow a big amount of ‘industrial’ bands in a fashion of remixing; either their own songs or having songs remixed by other musicians.

SMP's music sounds rather characteristic with its electronic content mixed along with rap and so the remixes came out that way too, additionally splashed with EBM and techno styles thanx to such bands like Hardwire or Penal Colony.
There's one remix though amongst a variety which I really paid attention to at the very first listening because of its melodies, dynamics and aggression. It's about „F*** You (Albatrosse Remix)" and I dare to say the remix is better than the original song (released on The Treatment album, 2007).

Well, I can't write more about any remixes that much because remixes stand out of my general interest, just because they don’t bring brand new songs but redo’s. With a few exceptions (like „F*** You (Albatrosse Remix)" on that high quality production album) they are mostly recommended to the collectors and especially, remix collectors but also people who like to party a lot.

(Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz. Must not be used for promotional or commercial purposes. See a Legal Note for the copyrights below)

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