Panic DHH - Panic DHH

Panic DHH on the Digital Hardcore label were formed by Robbie Furze, more commonly known as Alec Empire's guitarist for his last tour in support of "Intelligence & Sacrifice". The album as with any Digital Hardcore release, is forthright, experimental, daring and uncompromising. Pushing the boundaries of sonic aura, you can expect the unexpected with Panic DHH.

"Reach" has scratchy heavy guitars, booming drums and all manner of obscure industrial noises. This album has one of the angriest vocals i've ever heard - full of rage, bile and vitriolic riposte. There are echoes of vintage Rage Against The Machine and the Prodigy from their "Fat Of The Land" album, but pushed to the extremes. Intentionally unsettling it's an album which makes for very uneasy listening. The electronics and programming from Antti Uusimaki fuel the intensity. When you hear Robbie screaming "Out of your reach", the truth and honesty he invests is invaluable, trapped in emotional despair, in a vortex of complexity.

"Authority" conjures up nightmarish visions of electrical equipment going haywire in a futuristic world not unlike the Matrix. The vocal is difficult to decipher (adding chaos to a cocktail of catastrophe) with non stop trigger drumming, the thud thud of impending doom. The lyric "Just find it easy like this" wrong foots the listener on this post apocalyptic anthem of destruction. "Welcome To Loneliness" is the initial, general lyrical idea on the track "No More" which packs a powerful if pessimistic punch. The disturbed ramblings of an unhinged sociopath or an accurate diatribe on the social injustice mankind is battling against? The ambiguity of the lyrics lets the listener decide. Powerful stuff, close to the bone, wonderfully observed. A sea of calm in an ocean of stormy, torrential upheaval is "Linctes" which slows things down considerably. A touch of synths, the faint sound of guitars plus a bit of bass stir up feelings of relaxation and serenity which is most welcome after these noise terrorists have emotionally attacked our senses, but in a vital life affirming way which we'll be eternally grateful for.

Panic DHH hold the listener hostage for the entirety of the album, never once diluting their sound or simplifying what they want to say. Like life it's harsh and brutal, offering no easy answers in a world at war with itself.

Nicholas Paul Godkin

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