The way we see it, 2025 has produced some of the best Electro/Industrial music to date. You have Pixel Grip and Replicant on one end of the spectrum offering unique, stellar takes in the Darkwave/Electro genres while on the other you’ve got the return of legends like 16VOLT (Their first new album in 9 years arrives on July 25th through Metropolis Records) and Nine Inch Nails (With the upcoming Tron: Ares soundtrack) plus legends in the making Youth Code (Who will be out on the road for their “Industrial Worship” tour later this summer) dropping a propulsive new EP as well. On the YC kick, or maybe the yang to YC’s yin and all that jazz, we’re also finding that the latest from Black Magnet gels nicely in between all of that new noise with a particularly aggressive hybrid sound that’s sure to appease fans of all that we’ve mentioned and more. And if ya don’t dig, you’ve always got the “random” button to bail you out.
Us? We dig. A LOT. And what’s not to like from Megamantra featuring members who’ve, according to the press release, worked with Greg Puciato, All Your Sisters, and Destroyer Destroyer to name a few with influences as varied as Alice In Chains and Deftones to Nine Inch Nails and Godflesh! Throw in some Skinny Puppy and Ministry in there and you’ve got the recipe for one helluva a potent modern Industrial cocktail.
As a whole, Megamantra is just this mass of flowing sound that’s still great in pieces but simply epic when played together with “Wound Signal” starting this particular machine with Black Magnet’s version of NIN’s “Pinion” before the propulsive aural assault of “Endless” really gets the gears grinding. “Better Than Love” could be a single if it weren’t so gotDamn vicious from beginning to end while “Spitting Glass” is cause to get the dance shoes on with a vibrant, thumping clusterfuck of club-banging jams thrown into this frenetic fray.
“Coming Back Again” gets mechanical with syncopated everything all around accented by Ryne Bratcher’s eerie guitar lines and Eric Gorman’s synths with mastermind James Hammontree (Vocals, guitar) effortlessly hitting this vocal sweet spot that’s somewhere in between early Ministry (Like Land Of Rape And Honey era Uncle Al and Chris Connelly) and Ogre at his most manic/maniacal (Rabies, VIVI SECT VI). “Null+Void” gives us some primal pummeling out of Jared Branson’s drums that’s bombastic and somewhat barbaric with airs of Misery Loves Co. (Think “My Mind Still Speaks” or “I Swallow” as a reference) and then “Night Tripping” begins with beats straight out of the beginning of the breakdown to “Closer” before that iconic chorus. Deeper in, “Birth” is no slouch of a song with a low end build and an all encompassing menacing vibe followed by the biting “Smokeskreen” which is just a pitch perfect modern Industrial classic in the making.
Megamantra lands via 20 Buck Spin on July 25th and you can secure your copy now by heading here, here or to the stream below. For more from Black Magnet, including all the latest on the smattering of live excursions currently slated for September, hop on the information superhighway and make sure to get off here or here for all the socials.