When Synæsthesia: The Requiem Reveries (the three-way split CD with Hävok Ünit, andOceans and the Sin:Decay) was released early last year, it was intended to serve as the swan song for Finlands andOceans. The band have now morphed into Havoc Unit, with a more streamlined spelling and minus the Spïnal Tap-esque umlauts. Subtitled Hoarse Industrial Viremia, their debut full-length h.IV+ is not for the weak of heart. "I.esus sports backbeats like Meathook Seed and "When Snuff Is Not Enough and "Man vs. Flesh sound like old, harsh Fear Factory. "Gen.eration Gen.ocide and "Klan Korps densely reek of Red Harvest, yet "Viremia incorporates enough vocal samples and black metal keyboards to make Pitchshifters Jon Clayden shudder. "Kyrie Eleison triple times said elements with grindcore drum machines, while "Ignoratio Elenchi slows down the mood like a mechanical Queensrÿche. Like label mates V:28, Havoc Units destructo industrial beats and slicing riffage portend the next musical apocalypse, rendering all competitors to mounds of bloody pulp.
(Vendlus)Havoc Unit
h.IV+
BY Chris AyersPublished Feb 19, 2008