DIGITALMETAL.COM:
If there really was something funny going on with Britains public water system it would certainly go a long way to explaining many things, from their tradition of driving on the wrong side of the highway right though to the acerbic drenched filth currently spewed forth from deep within the bowels of their extreme metal underground. The Ichneumon Method, Axis of Perditions staggeringly promising debut, seemingly came out of nowhere and was greeted with as much scorn as it did praise, showing respect for the black metal genre by tearing up the very rulebook that has imprisoned the creative beast for what seems like an eternity. Dispensing with the formalities almost entirely, Axis erected a futuristic cyber black monstrosity, one which skilfully married the harsh industrialised soundscapes of vintage Strapping Young Lad and Throbbing Gristle, with the outward reaching symphonic gestures of Emperor, creating a startlingly fresh hybrid that was too perfectly unified to be labelled a Frankenstein. This stop gap release finds the band at an interesting cross road of sorts, venturing further down the ambient/industrial path that singled them out from the rest of the blackened hordes, without undermining the mechanistic sonic blitzkrieg that makes the Axis experience so captivating to begin with. Interference from the Other Side kicks things off in a typically nasty fashion, with its chilling deep space ambient noise textures brewing ominously, twisting and turning itself slowly towards the inevitable crescendo blow out, a deeply atmospheric and frightening journey into the nether regions of all things twisted and perverse. If Giger like images are the least terrifying thing that comes to mind while listening consider yourself very lucky indeed. Where The World Becomes Flesh, the first real metal offering, goes straight for the jugular, merging film samples, dense layers of noisy guitar riffs, heavily processed vocals and a drum machine set to explode at any given moment. In short, an unholy racket that sounds like its being transmitted from and by something not quite of this world. Heaven Salvation In The Paradise Of Rust is arguably the most devastating cut of the lot, providing a veritable snapshot of madness and urban decay in a futuristic post-apocalyptic wasteland, replete with slow burning arpeggios, droning leads, siren noises and voice-overs constantly reminding us that the end is near. As the track begins to dissolve, fading into the inexorable black hole from which it arose, Axis put the pedal to the metal one last time, blasting their way to the finale, reminding us that while the end may well be near, that is no reason to bow out quietly per se.