Carbon Beauty

Opening for Lords of Acid during their March 2011 tour dates is about as appropriate as it could get for Angelspit's Destroyx and ZooG. If ever an industrial act seemed inspired by another, Angelspit owe their career to Lords of Acid. Yes, there are hints of Atari Teenage Riot in the angry anti-capitalist rants, 2000s-era Skinny Puppy in the growl and glitch, and Ministry in the guitar chug, but Lords of Acid are the main touchstone. Angelspit could almost be viewed as a tamer Black Eyed Peas version of Lords of Acid, if the Lords themselves weren't so tongue in cheek. Carbon Beauty isn't a good starting point for newcomers, being the second compilation of remixes from the group's 2009 effort, Hideous and Perfect. As such, it's repetitive and only features three new songs. There's some fun and technical merit in Angelspit's take on dance-oriented industrial electronica, but there's an undeniable sense of role-playing that takes away from the drama, and their anti-money/anti-glamour message takes a hit when the album artwork and music production values so clearly drip of money and excess. With overcalculation already so evident, the remixes simply further the gloss. New bandmembers Valerie Gentile and Chris Kling do provide added heft to the three original tracks, but Carbon Beauty, for all its clatter and intended ferocity, lacks teeth and is overburdened with posturing.