Aural Aggravation

Metropolis Records – 6th December 2024

Christopher Nosnibor

Heralding the arrival of their first new music since 2010 (discounting the 2012 remix album, Transfusion), Unit:187 slapped down ‘Dick’ by way of a single, and gave cause for me to prick up my ears.

Their bio explains the ad reason for the extended hiatus:

Founded in 1994, Vancouver’s Unit:187 forged a name for itself with a crushing mix of industrial and metal. After the passing of founding member Tod Law in 2015 & taking time to process the loss, Unit:187 now honours his legacy with KillCure – finishing the songs the band wrote with Tod before his death, as well as new music.

It’s a difficult – and seemingly all-too-common dilemma for bands: what to do when a founding member and key player dies? There is no right or wrong thing to do: for some, their passing equates to the death of the band, for others, pressing on is a way to honour their memory. And fans react to these decisions differently, too: the return of Linkin Park with Emily Armstrong fronting in place of the late Chester Bennington is a perfect example of how divisive these things can be.

Former backing singer Kerry Vink-Peterson has stepped up to front Unit:187, which feels like something of a natural move forward, and when they state that some songs on KillCure are ‘finishing the songs the band wrote with Tod before his death’, that means that his contributions remain intact, and he’s credited on the album. In bringing past and present together in this way, KillCure stands as a transitional album, and in some ways feels like the episodes of Dr Who where the Doctor regenerates.

It’s by no means some maudlin, sentiment-filled baton-passing effort, though. Oh no. KillCure is an album which blasts forth with fist-pumping energy to declare that Unit:187 are undefeated and as fierce as ever. ‘Glamhammer’ swings in with some toppy guitar harmonics, sirens blaring over a juddering synth grind and pumping industrial-strength beat, coming together for a groove-laden swagger, breaking out into a monster chorus with snarling vocals and big power chords. It’s one of those tunes that just grabs you by the throat, and it strongly reminiscent of PIG in the mid-nineties, circa Sinsation and Wrecked.

It sets the template for the album nicely. As much as KillCure is rooted in that milieu of Wax Trax! and KMFDM, Unit:187 dial down the hyperactive aggrotech aspects to deliver something that feels somehow more considered, perhaps owing to the favouring of lower, more conventional ‘rock’ tempos and the guitars having a less processed feel, but it’s dark and aggressive, and ‘Dick’ is exemplary, proving itself as a worthy choice of lead single.

Landing in the middle of the album or what would be the end of side one on an old-school vinyl album release, the brooding – and perhaps appropriately-titled – ‘New Beginning’ slows things down, but amps up the sleaze and grind with some scuzzed-out guitar ripping its way over a stomping beat amidst fizzing electronics.

The second half is straight-up solid: samples abound amidst dense guitars and everything meshes into a relentlessly gritty chug-driven industrial grind. But there’s a certain theatricality to it, a knowingness that’s unstated, understated, but unmistakeably present, and it’s nowhere more apparent than on the raging in-yer-face muscle-flexing of ‘Overrun’.

Concluding the album the title track, with a duel-vocal performance, feels like the perfect summary of where Unit:187 are at, and the perfect intersection between the Tod Law and Kerry Vink-Peterson eras.

AA