POWERMAN 5000 – THE NOBLE ROT Review and Commentary

Review and Commentary by Joseph Timmons: IndiePulse Music Magazine

A few short months ago, industrial metal icons Powerman 5000 announced they were readying a new album for 2020, The Noble Rot. The band has been working and performing, never giving pause, but until now, no mention of a new album had really emerged. with news of new material being well guarded secrets.

They then shared their first single off the upcoming album, a goth club-inspired “Black Lipstick.” The song is a loving homage to dark ‘80s music like Depeche Mode, The Cure & Siouxsie Sioux, heavy on atmosphere and bass with frontman Spider One sneering melodically of a fly-by-night romantic encounter.

Spider said, “I believe this was the first song we wrote for the album. It kind of laid the groundwork for the sound of the whole record. Kind of more experimental and electronic than the previous one. I think I may have been trying to channel Peter Murphy with the vocals.”

Now IndiePulse Music Magazine has received the album, THE NOBLE ROT which will be released this coming August 28^th, and it was well worth waiting for.  As you know, Powerman 5000, carved their place in the music upper echelon with their earth shattering track When Worlds Collide, now come forth with more dark and introspective timeless axe grinders, hard edge and loads of fun.

Starting with a song called Cannibal Killers That Kill Everyone, everyone will hit the roof. With a great deal of mastery in composition, they follow up with Brave New World, which I would think is a commentary on the present state of affairs in this country. Play God Or Play Dead is a dark and brooding track, a dream buster and asks serious questions. The aforementioned Black Lipstick comes in as track 4, which then paves the way for more mayhem with the songs Special Effects, Let The Insects Rule, Movie Blood and Strange People Doing Strange Things, which to me has a strong Love and Rockets / Bauhaus style.

THE NOBLE ROT by Powerman 5000  is not a throwback album or an extensive homage to the 80’s, I think of it as if the music of that era continued and this is a “alternate reality” where the dark and spooky clubs are still out there, a time where the night becomes the day and the “freak” come out to play. Which leads me to make commentary on the last 2 tracks, an sinister cover of We Got The Beat which is frankly one of my favorite tracks on this new album, and VHS, a somber and cathartic piece, becoming you to turn back the clock, to better days or maybe o when you were invincible, either way, it is hauntingly fantastic.

THE NOBLE ROT by Powerman 5000 is the natural follow-up to their past work, with a divine and powerful life igniting energy.

THE NOBLE ROT, will be available everywhere August 28 on digital, CD and vinyl.

Pre-order here: http://orcd.co/powerman_5000_the_noble_rot

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