CoC : Thug - Monochrome : Review

Thug - _Monochrome_
by: Adrian Bromley (4 out of 5)

An eerie feeling seems to take over my body with every listen of Thug's debut album, _Monochrome_. Heavily into the radiating emotions and sounds through music, this industrial/metal trio from Oshawa, Ontario taunt us, scare us, and take pleasure in disfiguring their sounds and visions of material off their debut album. I'm still trying to figure out why this album gives me the creeps. I think it has to do with one of these three reasons: a) a top secret mission by C.I.A. to scare music critics like myself from the business, b) a bizarre pre-Halloween scare (it worked!) or c) this band really knows how to manipulate sounds and music and can flawlessly incorporate samples and feedback into songs, making them more volatile and demented as it goes along. I think it is the last one. Interesting numbers include: "Fucker", "Reject", "Science Fiction Organ", and "Vole". _Monochrome_ is much like a bad nightmare that you can't seem to wake up out of. Haven't heard shit this fucked up since my first encounter with Skinny Puppy material. Weird shit. Goosebumps guaranteed every time.

Contact: THUG, c/o Negative Air Research

(article published 18/11/1996)