Chainreactor- X-Tinction

ARTIST: Chainreactor

ALBUM: X-Tinction

LABEL: ProNoize

REVIEWER: Matthew J.

DATE: 6-2-10

Another entry into the crowding techno-fueled German power noise scene already inhabited by the likes of SAM, Xotox, Noisuf-X and Reaper, the debut album from Chainreactor makes up for its somewhat formulaic approach with sheer driving enthusiasm. Project creator Jens Minor is no slouch as a dance producer, and after opening track "Hollenmensch" builds from deep electronic ambiance and industrialized clatter into slickly thumping power noise, the album barely takes a breath until fading out into rumbling bass and distorted arcade game sounds on closing song "Schwarzkupfer." The hour or so in between is full of clanks, squeals, scrapes, and omnipresent kicks propelling everything along. While the bulk of the samples and song titles are in German, English-speaking fans will particularly enjoy "You Don't Know (What Pain Is)," built around a sample from "The Silence of the Lambs," while fans of more martial-flavored electronic music will thrill to the whip-crack beats and looped anthem snippets of "Bluhende Landschaften." Thanks to compilation appearances, tracks like the distorted techno stomp "Stalinallee" and the abrasively rumbling "Psychokiller" have already gotten Minor plenty of attention in the club scene, and listening to this album as a whole it's easy to see why. This is music that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go, and fans of German power noise as well as projects like Modulate and Terrorfakt will especially enjoy what Chainreactor has to offer.

Visit Jens Minor on MySpace at www.myspace.com/chainreactorxxx.