Prometheus Burning - Kill it with Fire

Artist: Prometheus Burning

CD title: Kill it with Fire

Label: WTII Records

Genre: Dark Electro EBM, Industrial

Released: November 13^th, 2012

Well, well, well, it seems Prometheus Burning have done it again! Kill it with Fire is the fourth studio album from Pittsburgh’s most beautifully twisted Electro-Industrial two-piece band. The album builds on the success and increasing maturity first hinted at in 2009’s Plague Called Humanity. With each new release from this duo showcases a growing depth to their vision.

The group formed in 2001 and released five rapid fire studio albums from 2004 to 2010 with other members to considerable acclaim. This latest offering, from a stripped back line-up consisting of programmer/producer Greg VanEck and vocalist/keyboardist Nikki Telladictaron builds on previous successes. They started strong with Influenza, and have gone from strength to strength since.

Title track “Kill it with Fire” is a down-tempo, chilling monster-stomp, enticing you in to this somewhat bipolar, yet thoroughly exciting album.

Next comes “InTerruptOr”, upping the tempo somewhat. Furious screams against authority and brainwashing and chants of “Conform, Consume, Obey” by an enraged cyber-punk goddess go toe to toe with steely synths and restless beats.

The intro to “We R the Gods Now” is incredibly sorrowful, even on first listen – It really feels as if you are experiencing the agony of a cyborg feeling sadness for the first time. Nikki Telladictorian seems to be able to bridge the gap between human and machine so well you start to feel unsure as to which she truly is. Simultaneously sorrowful and terrifying – The machines are coming, they will destroy you, but they will mourn your loss.

“Miserchord’s” cold chiming melody and churning Nine Inch Nails-esque bass face off perfectly with NT’s sorrowful droidette lamentations.

“Invisible Enemy” has echoes of Frontline Assembly’s desolate imaginings, punctuated by a deliciously weird breakdown. Prometheus Rising certainly has the FLA’s knack for stirring the sort of truly complex emotions which can sometimes get lost amongst the relentless bpm of other scene bands.

Much of the enduring, and indeed growing, appeal of Telladictorian is this ability to convey such a broad range of feeling - even though she screams through many layers of affects, her presence and the conviction in her voice cuts through the distortion like icy blue neon.

This vocal agility pairs perfectly with producer Van Eck’s ability to flit effortlessly between visceral manic noise and crisp and haunting soundscapes. This sound is combined perfectly with potent, direct lyrics throughout.

All this cybernetic introspection soon gives way, however to “Eevilution”, an unexpectedly bouncy and energetic track for so late in the album. The beats pick up and this tune is guaranteed to send boots to boards - even coming out of a home stereo it instantly transports you to darkened neon clubs. Those angry beats could easily be the sound of a thousand stamping nurocks!

The album winds down with yet another shift in style for the robo-songstress, becoming demonic cheerleader on “A Living Oblivion”, before ending with remixes of “Kill it with Fire” and “miserChorida”, courtesy of Potion Control and I, Parasite respectively.  

Although musically you can hear undertones Skinny Puppy’s twisted arcane musings and Frontline Assembly at their most beautifully desolate, these are truly one of a kind band, whose roots and retro influences form an integral part of the whole, without ever distracting from their thoroughly forward thinking vision. Telladictaron’s vocals are truly incomparable, one moment she seems like an electronic Siouxsie Sioux, the next a twisted PJ Harvey.

The complexity and emotional intensity of this album cannot be exaggerated, one minute it feels vast, epic and rebellious, the next haunted, cold and hollow. Get it, listen to it, fear it, and love it!

Take a listen: Prometheus Burning - Interruptor

Buy Prometheus Burning - Kill it with Fire