ReView: Binary Order – Messages From the Deep0

Binary Order
Album: Messages From the Deep
Category: Industrial / Metal / Doom
Label: Self-released
Release Date: 2022-11-29
Author: Ilker Yücel (Ilker81x)

The fusion of industrial and metal has been a fertile ground upon which the seeds of apocalypse seem firmly rooted, and this sixth and latest album from London’s Binary Order really offers no real surprises in that department. Where Messages From the Deep truly excels is simply in just how well it meets the expectations of the genre, as Benjamin Blank single-handedly crafts a fitting soundtrack for humanity’s demise. A cinematic doom-laden ambience permeates each track as bright synth layers underscore the punchy percussion and grinding guitars, the vocals moving seamlessly from the vicious roar of the verses to the melodic and emotive drama of the choruses, not unlike what one might hear in modern alt. metal. Although this does result in a relatively formulaic approach for several tracks, they manage to shine in their individual components. For instance, the pulsating synth arpeggios and sustained pads of “The Weight” and “Towards the End” anchor straightforward thrusts of roaring machine metal while also offering possibilities for more club-oriented remixes, the marching drum break in the latter track compounded by chants of “How can we kill the noise when it has become our voice” making for a bit of dramatic flair. “Parasite” is perhaps the best presentation of this formula with its excellent vocoder distortions, slithery glitch effects, and synths that swell with all the dark grandeur of a wall of French horns,” but it is in songs like “The Hands of Time” and “Still Water” that Blank deviates toward the more melodic aspects of Binary Order – the former track notable for its harmonization of clean vocals and shrill and steely synths, the latter almost lush in its decayed ambience, the vocals imparting the lament of broken dreams amid mournful guitars and rhythmic electronics. The title track is the most overt example of industrialized doom metal and is quite chilling with its orchestral buildup, the vocals drenched in reverb that almost masks the subtle layering of clean and growling tones; the song eventually dissipates into a grim end section that segues into “A Good Death,” the chiming guitar arpeggios and darkly sullen vocals bringing the album to a haunted yet earnest conclusion. Blank has cited numerous books, movies, and videos games in the realm of post-apocalyptic cyberpunk as key inspirations, and Messages From the Deep does hit those pitch perfect notes of social and political unrest leading to our ultimate self-inflicted downfall. Thought hardly revelatory, Binary Order manages to create a rather epic sounding album that thankfully avoids grandiosity.
 
Track list:

1. Sick
2. The Weight
3. Violence
4. The Hands of Time
5. Towards the End
6. Parasite
7. My Own Mortality
8. Still Water
9. Messages From the Deep
10. A Good Death

 
Binary Order
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