REVIEWS

Ayria
Hearts for Bullets

Another album to feed the mass mainstream industrial stomping markets. Catchy, infectious, but not pushing any sort of boundaries.

"Bad List" starts off the album with a sexually evil, driving bass line and a very electroclash, dark, gritty club vibe that mixes with Jenn's soft and velvety voice. "Insect Calm" brings one back to the early and mid-'90s industrial that spurred off Christopher Hall's style and Die Warzau’s beginning experimentalism; a solid, industrial hit that would positively boom in a live performance setting. "The Gun Song," by comparison, is just about one of the worst industrial songs this writer has heard in a long time. An uncomfortable keyboard riff, lyrics that don't fit the style of the song, the same redundant metronome drumming used in the rest of the songs, except with the poorly constructed melodies, it becomes a problem. "Invisible" has a ridiculously catchy '80s style riff that is almost electro-pop and very, very danceable, giving props to the styles of Effcee and making for a potential radio hit – definitely the best song on the album. "Blue Alice" is another slickly crafted song with some super complex, syncopated breakbeats with its chorus of "Hey you, black and blue / don't end up like I do / Hey you, black and blue / Don't end up like Alice," as Jenn distortedly sings about a drugged out version of Alice in Wonderland. Progressive, distinct, and confident, "Blue Alice" pushes the style of industrial out further. Sadly though, the rest of the songs on the album are undistinguishable and sort of fall back into obscurity and fit the cookie cutter mold of stomping industrial.

The album as a whole is a complete crowd thumper – all high tension with a demon-like confidence. It is relentless, filled with anguish, lust-driven, and bent straight to hell. After listening to Hearts for Bullets, it makes the listener immediately want to go out and see Ayria live. Sadly, it is difficult to find much else to say about Hearts for Bullets, for while there are some very good hits, catchy singles, and live crowd anthems, it doesn't bring anything new to the table and stays safely inside the mainstream industrial dance boundaries that Ayria set for themselves on their last album.