- Working on organizing a South / West Coast tour for early August! We will be traveling with other fellow Pittsburgh experimental electronic artists. In no particular order, the tentative band roster is:

Prometheus Burning (Crunch Pod, Hive, Thac0)
Xanopticon (Hymen, Zhark, Mutant Sniper)
8Cylinder (Mode of Proof, Rhinoplex)
Vasculator (Void Tactical Media, also member of ProBurn)

Nothing has been set in stone yet… we are still figuring out the logistics of it all, what cities and dates. If any promoters down South or West Coast are interested, please email us to talk about things further.

- Combated in the 6th annual Galactic Assdragon Classic laptop battle last night. Saw many friends and familiar faces from all over the place. Contestants came from Ohio, Detroit, and even as far as Chicago. We plan to continue working on the tracks we used in the battle to lay down on our next 12″ record. These tracks lean pretty far into the area of Dubstep. We wanted to experiment with mixing styles for the battle like we do every year, and this year focused on combining elements of Dubstep and Industrial. The end result was a very dark, heavy sound with much emphasis on complex basslines and sub frequencies… not “traditional” Dubstep by any means.

- We have been making much progress in the studio with the Four Pi Movement project. The first (and possibly only) release is coming together slowly but surely. Expect to see a very limited but unique package in the near future, containing these recording sessions and some other hand made art and creations conceptualized for this release. A new recording was added to the myspace page entitled “Without Reason or Justification”.

- We recorded some vocals with Jim, aka DJ Hiem of the band Rein[Forced] for the Industrial Cancer Benefit compilation he is putting together. After months of work and changing things around, we are finally happy with our song and submitted the final version to him last week. Other artists that have submitted their songs so far are: 16 Volt, Alter Der Ruine, Molecule Party, Hype Factor, Everything Goes Cold, Interface, Assemblage 23, SD6, Backandtotheleft, System Syn, Caustic, XuberX, Jordan Decay, The Dark Clan, Encoder, Obscenity Trial, Boxed Warning, and a few more that I can’t remember off the top of my head. Plus there are still a bunch more who have not finished just yet, but will be complete in time to meet the deadline. We are damn proud to contribute to this compilation, as well as to the cause, which is to raise money to help fight cancer, which all the proceeds will be going to… like how a REAL fundraiser compilation with a REAL purpose should do.

Also this compilation is not only raising money for the cause, it is also already raising awareness. The local media has been picking up on Jim and what he is doing, and recently did a report and interview of him. Check it out: http://kdka.com/video/?id=58023@kdka.dayport.com

Our Power Electronics side-project Four Pi Movement is now online.

We also have our first confirmed performance approaching in August with Graveyards (Wolf Eyes side-project).

http://www.myspace.com/fourpimovement

Fuck it all.

Old school industrial blended with new school noise with just a hint of catchiness, making for a loud and aggressive album.

From one noise label to another, Pittsburgh’s Prometheus Burning moves from Hive Records to Crunch Pod for the group’s latest release, Plague Called HuMANity. As caustic and as abrasive as ever, the duo of Greg VanEck and Nikki Telladictorian continue down their sonically apocalyptic path, pushing their brand of industrialized rhythmic noise to the limits of the average listener’s ability to bear the aural assault. This writer challenges the listener to find one note, one sequence, one audio texture present on this album that hasn’t been mangled or distorted such that one’s speakers would begin to bleed. And yet, the production is so crisp that no sound goes unnoticed or accidentally buried by cacophony. Not only that, but there are enough catchy hooks to keep these tracks from being a muddled mélange of continuous noise with the arrangements being the only indications of a structure.

Case in point, “Blackmagick Tongue” pummels out a gritty and acidic bass line that with its steady and heavy beat bears some semblance of an old Nitzer Ebb vinyl album melted in a vat of toxic waste. Nikki’s vocals pierce venomous, never once making any inclinations towards actual melodic singing, yet such an attempt would be folly given the volume and crackling distortion exhibited by VanEck’s musical machinations. The same can be said of “Ouroboros Deathride,” which is perfect dance floor fodder with its repetitive bass and drum loops, a mid section synth riff so typical of ’80s dance music, and with the two band members trading off a call-and-response style of vocal interplay that reminds of Front 242 in their heyday. The title track adds a sense of epic depth and foreboding with its passages of orchestral ambience juxtaposed by those grating squelches of distorted synths and vitriolic vocals, while “Deluge” lives up to its title as a prolonged instrumental piece full of seemingly random noises offset by a devastating and huge-sounding ambient progression befitting a sci-fi soundtrack.

As a bonus, Prometheus Burning also tackles a classic with the not-so-hidden track, “You Know What You Are,” a cover of the Ministry hit. VanEck and Telladictorian remain extraordinarily faithful to the original right down to the arrangement of those famous samples from Platoon and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and that infectious bass line that stomps menacing and monstrous, making it the perfect capper to a grim and brutal album. As one can expect, the only downside to Plague Called HuMANity is its bleakness being so prevalent and the band’s style being so pervasively noisy that one might be more inclined to lower the volume than to crank it. Regardless, Prometheus Burning as ever knows how to deliver the goods in blending the sonic palette of old school industrial with the modern techniques of pure unabashed noise and maintain consistency in setting ablaze to a scene in danger of cooling off.

- Ilker Yücel [3.5/5], Re:Gen Magazine

Pittsburgh’s Prometheus Burning is an act that has managed to encompass a variety of microgenres in their style and each release offers something a little different as they don’t care to repeat themselves. In 2006 Hive Records released the proper debut full-length Beyond Repair and the noise fusion of Greg VanEck’s grinding, future shock Industrial with its nod to a Wax Trax past and Nikki Telladictorian’s melodic sensibilities accentuated by he razor sharp, distorted vocal delivery went beyond the overly simplistic Powernoise we had come to know. The album was quite well received but it was time to kick things up a notch and the duo, now on Crunch Pod, manage to nearly surpass their potential on their latest effort, plague called huMANity.

This is a high concept, vocal-heavy amalgamation of the old and the new. State of the art electronics and sheets of distortion mix with classic sounds from Industrial’s past, calling to mind early Nineties Skinny Puppy and Frontline Assembly along with the clanging beats of Chicago’s heyday. Yet thanks in large part to some clever layering and deft songwriting none of it comes across as a cheap retro gimmick. In fact it sounds quite fresh and uniquely satisfying alongside the myriad Suicide Commando clones weighing Electro down like an anchor tethered to an anvil these days. Not only are ProBurn putting forth impressive performances but their timing couldn’t be more impeccable.

Stylistically, “Ouroboros Deathride” captures the essence of this entire album quite well. With a wink and a nod to Jim Morrison by way of the Oliver Stone biopic VanEck rides the serpent with Telladictorian right behind him. Thumping kick drum is tempered by a familiar snare and the distorted melody plays out with hissed/hushed vocals until the two minute mark when a glitched out synth break provides a memorable moment of dark bliss. It provides an interesting contrast to “Blackmagick Tongue” which is all grinding screech and mid-tempo stomp, Nikki’s distinctive, altered voice taking charge and reaping what it sows.

Occasionally the music suffers from excess, as on the title track which isn’t one of the strongest numbers in the collection. It’s needlessly padded with senseless repetition stretching the song out to a near seven minute length. A nice recovery is made with the bright and effervescent “Realm Of Thee Divine” and the whip smart, percussive fury of “The Weeping And Gnashing Of Teeth.” Yet the last quarter of the collection seems a little too erratic and disjointed. “Genovese Syndrome” is all over the place with atmospheric synth overpowering the percussion in most spots and the monotonous vocal just sort of floating above the fray while an insistent bass riff bookends the piece. The broken beats of “Overture Fusillade” give way to the all-out digital terrorism of “Deluge.” And the album ends with an intriguing free form number that is certainly interesting but doesn’t contain the power exemplified by the rest of the album.

There is heady subject matter involved with a storyline you won’t be able to decipher merely by reading the oblique lyrics. Look for a general synopsis on the band’s website. I’m not convinced it necessarily adds to the overall experience anyway since the stratified soundscapes seem more than enough to digest. Capping the collection off with a fine remake of Ministry’s “You Know What You Are” plague called huMANity will not only be one of the best albums released this year but also one of the most important for its adventurous application of Industrial’s conflicted past fused with it’s uncertain future. It isn’t a perfect release and will probably take at least a few listens to truly sink in but once you “get it” it will become one of those CDs to which you can’t stop listening.

- Christopher Roddy, DarkTwinCities

From the first awed glimpse of Paul McCarroll’s surreal cover art to the initial throbbing anguished moans of “The Box”, this latest album from what are quite possibly one of the most exciting acts in industrial and electro music today leaves the listener with some fairly high expectations. Expectations, I am pleased to report, that are for the most part fulfilled very well.

Musically, “Plague Called HuMANity” carries on where frontwoman Nikki Telladictorian and electronics wizard Greg VanEck last left off with their vinyl-only 2008 release “Retribution” - harsh polyrhythmic percussion and grinding melodic structures overlaid with the unmistakable screeching vocal texture that has become, according to many listeners, the trademark sound of Prometheus Burning. It is therefore likely that if you have experienced this band before, you will be satisfied with the sonic arrays they bring to bear on this album. Their late-80s, early-90s influences are more noticeable on this record than on previous releases: the overall feel of the album, especially from a purely rhythmic point of view, draws startlingly similar parallels to the feelings generated by Skinny Puppy’s “Too Dark Park” album. This is especially noticeable on the slower, groovier “Ourobouros Deathride” - from its call-response vocal structure to the new wave synth stylings in the bridge section. Even their recently-completed tour with Caustic and the Gothsicles was named “It Ain’t Dead Yet”, an obvious nod to the fathers of modern EBM.

Other surprises in store on “Plague Called HuMANity” include a dark, depressing take on Ministry’s old-school floorfiller, “You Know What You Are” and some hauntingly clean vocals on “Elpis (Hope is not enough)”. Enough to send shivers down any spine. While massively complex (and consequently intimidating for many listeners) in terms of content, “Plague Called HuMANity” nevertheless shows great appeal across a range of genres - blending elements of industrial, electro, IDM and breakcore into a cohesive package. An intelligent, hugely creative conceptual album that heralds even greater things to come. My personal favourite aspect of this far-reaching accomplishment is quite simple, because it resonates with my own feelings: the insinuation that all the terrible things that poured into the world upon Pandora’s ill-fated opening of her eponymous box can be summed up, quite succinctly, as a plague called humanity…

– David vander Merwe [9/10], Connexion Bizarre