Artist: Portion Control
Title: Head Buried
Genre: EBM / Electro
Release Date: 26th June 2020
Label: Progress Production
Album Review
PORTION CONTROL have released their first album since 2012 and in case you are into classic EBM with a dose of experimentation then you have to buy it. Sometimes things are really simple as that! ‘Head Buried’ is indeed an album no EBM aficionado would want to miss, firstly because PORTION CONTROL is a legendary band in its own right and secondly the album is really good.
Formed as early as 1979 in London by Dean Piavani, John Whybrew, and Ian Sharp, PORTION CONTROL belonged to the first wave of Industrial music from the UK and were contemporaries of CABARET VOLTAIRE, TEST DEPT., PSYCHIC-TV, and scene-coining THROBBING GRISTLE. My first encounter with PORTION CONTROL was when they were the support act of DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Some Great Reward’ tour in 1984 - only at the UK dates, unfortunately, but as a young DM addict from Germany sucking up anything related to DEPECHE MODE I read about it, and PORTION CONTROL’s 1984 single ‘Go Talk’ is still one of my all-time favourites. PORTION CONTROL disbanded in 1987 to release two great albums under the moniker SOLAR ENEMY in the 1990s with the same line-up, curiously, and in 2004 Piavini and Whybrew revived PORTION CONTROL without the involvement of Ian Sharp.
So much for history, fast forward to the present. ‘Head Buried’ is a compilation of tracks the duo produced in the years since their 2012 album ‘Pure Form’, and some of them were already performed live at the rather rare PORTION CONTROL gigs. ‘Head Buried’ was supposed to be a digital only release but then Swedish record label Progress Production stepped in and offered to release it on CD, as well. Strictly limited to 500 copies only, so you better go to the website of the label to see if there’s a copy left for you! Maybe you prefer digital anyway, so head for the band’s website to buy it for £3 (MP3 format) or £4 (WAV format).
A real bargain as you get great value for your money! ‘Head Buried’ is probably not as packed with teeth grinding, stomping EBM dance tracks as their fantastic album ‘Violently Alive’ from 2010 but there is enough fodder for you clubheads: ‘Rise Up’, ‘Cock’, and ‘Regime’, for example, and ‘Regulation One’ has to be one of the poppiest dance tracks PORTION CONTROL has produced so far. On the other hand, there are the more experimental, dissonant and apocalyptic tracks like ‘Claw and Scrape; ‘Degrade’ and the four instrumental pieces named DROP 01 to DROP 03b and CD buyers get a bonus song with ‘Telekinesis’.
If you are familiar with PORTION CONTROL you know what you will get. If you aren’t but love EBM and Industrial then it surely won’t hurt you to fork out a little money for these two gentlemen, after all you get quality with this collection! Meanwhile PORTION CONTROL continue work on the next “proper” album, so watch out for them...
Tracklist
01. Head Buried
02. Claw And Scrape
03. Regime
04. Degrade
05. Regulation One
06. Drop01
07. Rise Up
08. Drop02
09. Ninth Child
10. Drop03_00A
11. Drop03_00B
12. Cock
13. Telekinesis
Line-up
Dean Piavani
John Whybrew
Website
http://portion-control.net / https://portioncontrol.bandcamp.com
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 8.5
Total: 8.8 / 10
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