SIN, made up of members from NAUSEA (NY), CATTLE PRESS and IABHORHER [well, I just gave away that this is gonna be good!] bring the superior side of the split with four tracks/23 minutes of miserable, oppressive industrial metal mostly heavily reminiscent of GODFLESH circa 1988, with some nods to early SWANS.
If you'd put this on and told me it was unreleased Broadrick material from the same time period, I might believe you - and in this case, that's nothing but praise as this is essentially more of what makes that early period of bleak machine metal so great; it's essentially post-industrial boom urban decay in audial form. The few long, slow, funereal dirges present in a couple of the songs bring to mind early death/doom (more like the feel of diSEMBOWELMENT demos or a less molten-pace MORDOR; not that lame, sappy Peaceville shite) and similar sections from SKIN CHAMBER's "Wound", which again, produces no complaint from this sucker. For reference, DEAD WORLD channelled a similar vibe to these bits on their second and third records. Everything has a layer of old tape-like grime and grit over it - the guitars and bass are thick and murky, and the drum machine tones are slightly muted and a little less crisp than most by 1992/3, which just adds to the gloomy atmosphere. Overall, an excellent example of a band that are huge fans of a particular sound and know how to translate that into basically more of the same in both sonic characteristic and attitude, without feeling stale or coming off as a complete rip-off, much like many classic death metal demos of the same era. Sadly, this is the sole release of SIN, which is a shame as I'd have loved a full LP from them. 7.5 blown-out dead factories/10.
SPINE WRENCH, who include two members from DEVIATED INSTINCT, are comparable again to early industrial metal in most respects, but bring a more traditionally metallic, crust/stench-inflected take on the style; not surprising given the members' background. There are sections that feel like Broadrick/SCORN and co. B sides amidst some chunkier slowed-down crust riffs and a few bits that are almost CANDLEMASS-y in their fantastical, "epic" feel (thankfully without all that overblown wailing). If you like the idea of a metalpunk band going industrial, but retaining a drummer and the mix you'd find on a lot of crust records of the era (relatively rough and raw but still clearly legible), then this would be of interest to you. However, for my money, SPINE WRENCH just don't have as focused a vision as SIN, nor do they execute what they're trying to do as well. It's all a bit clunky and inconsistent to my ears - not without its charm, and there are some sick bits here and there, but they're the weaker band on the split. 6/10.
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