Prurient: Bermuda Drain

Label: Hydra Head

One of New York's signature artists is reborn, severely. The noise/power-electronics magus (and Hospital Recordings capo) Dominick Fernow, a.k.a. Prurient, has spent the past couple of years in a dark chrysalis, remaking his approach as a solo artist while continuing his affiliation with Cold Cave (Fernow plays synth in their live set-up, possibly on record too). Bermuda Drain is the long anticipated result, a blast of searingly carved synth, electronics and vocals, delivered in -- can it be said? -- Fernow's most accessible song-vehicles yet. Don't expect pop songs, but there's nary a track here that isn't compelling: The dramatic massed-synth onslaught of album opener "Many Jewels Surround the Crown" draws on both '70s film soundtracks and modern metal's most intense fringes, while the following "A Meal Can Be Made" lays his scorched-throat vocals onto frenetic and precise synths and drums. The title track is an ominous symphony of dark ambience, with Fernow's spoken lyrics amplifying the vibe; "There Are Still Secrets" piles everything in: steady beats, cascading synths of frightening scale, Fernow's ferocious shriek and some chilling synth melodies. Throughout the album black metal is as persistent a reference as it is infrequently heard, though anyone who's felt seduced by new-wave's darker side-streets needs to check this out.