Nox Pulso – Two
Nox Pulso – Two
Null Void Records
Release Date: 03/10/25
Running Time: 44:58
Review by Dark Juan
8/10
Good morning, dear friends. Today my erudition appears to have deserted me. I have had my friend Ruth visiting from Oxford, and she is a very intelligent woman (and phenomenally posh, which always amuses the fuck out of me as I live in a tiny cottage in the middle of an industrial town, surrounded by repurposed mills and a large number of pubs where the drinkers go by the names of Shetland Tony [because he is small] and Keth and One Tooth John. Keth’s real name is Keith, but he lost an eye, geddit?) and having to discuss important and wide-ranging subjects with her has wrung the poor old grey matter out to a rather worrying degree. I am even drinking tea rather than beer in an effort to rehydrate and reactivate my poor brain. Send help. Nudes would do. Thanks. Unless you’re Rory. I don’t need reminding that he is actually trying to improve himself and I am content with becoming a gestalt entity by developing middle age spread the likes of which have never before been witnessed and melding with my sofa because I refuse to move my fat arse off it when I am not at work.
Now I no longer have to consider existential questions and ridiculously high level philosophy I can turn my attention back to being a fucking thicko who likes extreme music instead of discussing the finer points of Kant and Schopenhauer. This is a relief.
However, because the old grey matter is not yet in optimal operating condition, I would expect a lot of repetition of words like savage, pummelling, machinelike and dangerous. I am not sure whether my lexicon has survived.
Let us release the almighty Platter of Splatter™ and sling an offering upon it. That might stimulate the synapses a bit. Today I have selected “Two” by Electro-Industrial duo Nox Pulso, after having to warn Ever-Metal Mum Beth Morait off it through threats of violence and also telling her I’d nick her wine. Thankfully, she relented and let me have it. This might be worryingly intense.
Fuck.
We (for there are at least three personalities vying for control of Dark Juan at the best of times) probably should have let Beth have it, because this is machine music for battalions of automaton killing machines clearing out population centres with hot led and high explosive. Which means that Dark Juan’s fighting blood is up now, and the population of Sowerby Bridge is now at risk of dismemberment at the very least. Remember how visceral and dangerous Combichrist were when they released “What The Fuck Is Wrong With You”? And how inventive Cubanate were when they decided to meld Techno and Metal? And just how fucking demented and eye-bulgingly insane The Berzerker were when they slammed Gabba and Death Metal together? Or how excited we were when The Prodigy brough Metal guitar into their sound and created crossover legends in ‘Breathe’ and ‘Firestarter’?
Now we have Nox Pulso. They claim that they play heavy Dance Music. I cock a snook at that statement and say fie to them. They play something that could have only been cooked up in one of Satan’s latrines. It is grim, concrete maschinenklang of the most impersonal variety that exists for one reason and one reason only, and that is to see just how many people it can take with it in a colossal orgy of bladed and explosive violence. It is that bottom heavy that it weighs more than your mum sat on the core of a planet. It is bastardised, jury-rigged, sparking and smouldering electronics melded to razor riffs and the kind of jabbering, sharp-throated vocals that make Maoris in the middle of doing a haka think twice about what they were planning. It is the sound of madmen all gabbling fiendishly while staring REALLY intently at you and you have no escape. It is a deeply claustrophobic, crushing record is “Two”, and the way it combines Electronics and meat is nothing short of grimly spectacular.
Formed by two DJs from VERY different backgrounds during the pandemic, in Dub and Drum and Bass DJ Matt McIvor and Industrial Show host of Total Rock Radio, Duncan Williams, Nox Pulso (Night Beats) represents two worlds being rammed into each other at velocities just below lightspeed and creating the kind of music that dystopias were created for specifically. It is unremitting aural torture – drum machines pushed to the very point of failure are enhanced by riffs that are designed to disembowel and sever limbs. The vocals range from the kind of jabbering syllabification so beloved of unhinged murderers to dry throated vocal martyrdom. Except on ‘Simple Disguise’ where Nox Pulso opted for hooks so massive on the chorus they could have been used to hang sides of beef and deliver a song that KMFDM wish they had written.
This contrasts massively with ‘Wrong Answers’ which channels Andy LaPlegua’s darker moments and ditches any idea of musicality in favour of shrieking and grinding electronics, pounding Industrial rhythms and clearly insane screaming over droning, looped guitars. It is a fucking terrifying song. Therefore, it has instantly gone on to one of Dark Juan’s playlists for the future torture of passengers in the Silver Sturmvogel.
So, if you want a band that melds the all too human ferocity of Metal with the depersonalisation of Industrial then I rather feel that Nox Pulso might be the band for you. They are thick, chunky, incredibly heavy and have more bottom end than the foundations of skyscrapers. They are unsettling, disturbing and deeply idiosyncratic. However, they aren’t just about violence – beneath the sonic assault there are touches of Garbage and KMFDM and Panzer AG and Suicide Commando and Cubanate. There are little bits of melody and sophistication underneath the surface racket and these are what really reward you when you listen to “Two” and delve beneath the perceived Electronic Armageddon which inevitably will be your initial reaction to the music of Nox Pulso. It’s more than just weaponised noise and it is far greater than the sum of its parts. There’s calculation there, but this is overwhelmed by the barely restrained insanity and violence bubbling beneath the surface.
Suffice to say, Dark Juan fucking loves this band and this album.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System has sneakily tranquillised Dark Juan as he had got that look in his eye again, and the last time that happened the subsequent legal wrangling took quite some time to sort out. It therefore awards Nox Pulso 8/10 for a record that brings back the heyday of 90s Electronic Industrial, but bends it into interesting new shapes for the newish century.
TRACKLISTING:
01. New Frontiers
02. Plague Town
03. No Exit
04. Choose Violence
05. Freak Show
06. Uncertain Light
07. Night Trap
08. Widow Maker
09. Simple Disguise
10. Wrong Answers
11. Shirley Manson
12. Witch Queen
LINE-UP:
Matt McIvor
Duncan Williams
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
