First Aid 4 Souls- Deathstep

Artist: First Aid 4 Souls

CD Title: Deathstep

Label: Electro Arc

Website: https://www.firstaid4souls.com/

Genre: Electro, Industrial

Reviewer: Reg Davey

Date: 7-19-11

I looked up what Deathstep meant before reviewing this album. Apparently, it's defined as a “fusion between Death Metal and Dubstep”. Sounds pretty clichéd, right? Well, let's have a listen and find out...

First of all, the album does not sound to me like the internet definition listed above. Whoops, back to square one... listen with fresh ears and no pre-conceptions then. You know what? That's how an album should be listened to for fair evaluation of it.

So, the album “Deathstep”. How does it sound? Well, there's a certain delicious darkness about it which is apparent from the get-go. As far as dubstep influences go (which may cloud judgement of the casual listener) there are flashes of it (notably in the first few seconds of opening track “You Are In A Box” and the general feel of “Lifeforce” when it kicks in) but for the whole this is mostly a Dark industrial album. There are some very interesting tricks used in the album borrowing from industrial, cyberpunk and Rhythmic Noise (the opening bars of “Agony” spring to mind), to name but a few of the genres I'm detecting whilst listening to the album. Last track “The End Of Culture” has a very appropriate name. I'll leave that up to you to find out why for yourself.

In listening to this album, I can detect influences from bands such as Front Line Assembly, Front 242, Nine Inch Nails, :Wumpscut:, Ultraviolence, Suicide Commando, Ministry, Mindless Self-Indulgence and Leaether Strip to name but a few that come to mind immediately. First Aid 4 Souls (an odd name to be sure, and one that seems to be kind of paradoxical yet oddly fitting) have taken these influences, and mashed them up into something that is entirely their own.

The tracks on the album work together to create a suffocating sense of Paranoia and undiagnosed insanity, like a soundtrack to a lucid nightmare of William Burroughs-esque proportions. If you like your music dark, unsettling, mind-fucking and just that little bit different than the current slew of copycat genre-whores, then this is an album you should definitely check out.