Neural Rectifier Syndrome – Kick Drum Inertia

Neural Rectifier Syndrome’s debut album Kick Drum Inertia is a scorcher. Behind this project is Paul Wright—a man of many names—who is also known as Lek Black, Green ReeFah, and Serious Porn Collector. Prior to the establishment of NRS, Wright had been working with Santos De Castro as Deviant Species, an unusual psytrance act from the UK with a long history of self-produced vinyl singles on the defunct label Zerotonin. With the formation of Ambivalent Records and the release of The Quest For Balojax in 2001, Deviant Species achieved a modicum of success in the psychedelic underground. Shortly thereafter, Wright began to focus more on his own projects, and eventually left the group to form his own label—Last Possible Solution—by 2004. The debut compilation Unhinged was soon followed by the long-awaited release of Paul Wright’s mischievous manifesto: Kick Drum Inertia.

Nearly every song on Kick Drum Inertia shares hard-hitting kicks, razor-sharp bass lines, squelchy leads, eerie atmospheres, and tense, surprising transitions. The synthetic rhythms employed on this album are quite distinct; one would be wrong to confuse Wright’s approach (and the “Ambivalent sound” in general) with conventional full-on psytrance or the new breed of “darkpsy” producers. The unholy trinity of NRS, Deviant Species, and Scorb represent something entirely different. Their sound is typically dark, but the darkness of Kick Drum Inertia is delivered with a sinister grin and a knowing wink. There is an amusing tendency for NRS and other LPS artists to satirize elements of mid-nineties rave music, using sirens, breakbeats, and especially hoovers in perverted ways to achieve an aesthetic that can only be described as undead. The results can evoke a vivid mental picture: drooling zombies limply wielding glow sticks, fun fur pants matted with blood, the grunts and groans of a gurning crowd in the thick of a drugged up miasma. Whether this represents a deeper commentary on electronic music culture is anyone’s guess—all I know is that it works like a charm on the dance floor. I should mention that the “zombie rave” feeling is seldom heavy-handed; most of the time, it simply warps the work of NRS and other Ambivalent and LPS artists—it is no more than a component of their distinctive style. Kick Drum Inertia is a relatively serious production in comparison to Symptoms Of Compliance, the follow-up from Last Possible Solution.

Antistress is the perfect opener. It has this nasty techtrance groove going on; hard synthetic beats and piercing high-hats smash into one another with unwavering resolve. Technophobiac continues in the same vein, albeit slightly more alien and otherworldly in nature. Laup’s Senip is just as dark and dirty as the rest, but it makes me laugh. In amidst the snap of hi-hats and twisted stabs one will hear this curious little vocal hook with an absurd hidden meaning. I’ll give you a clue as to what is being said: the title of this track is an anagram. Mesolyte Box deals in haunting atmospheric surges and massive snare rushes. The aching mid-point breakdown is shattered by a scathing return to inverted normality. There is a good sample in the mix here: “that is a… really fucked up thing to say to me.”

Rise of the Black Bin Bags is the pick of the album. Beginning with a sparse sound canvas, NRS soon digs into distorted noises and madly panned sound effects. Wariness turns to alarm when an unnerving background melody gives way to a bizarre munchkin sing-a-long. The absolutely sadistic return hits like a nuclear blast. This killer track is one of the finest DJ tools around! Registered User is the other big favourite. Tightly squared bass lines, droning sirens, and electric melodies keep the tension levels high, while a smartly chosen fragment of angelic female vocals provides an exciting element of incongruity. Remarkably effective.

The next two tracks are ferociously aggressive and mighty frightening, but they stand out a little less than the rest. Means To An End features an amusing break where a creepy voice simply states, “hello!” The high-tempo Isolation brings the album to an energetic peak, blasting out scratchy leads and scary atmospheres. Resurge Part 2 is a deeper and more mysterious interpretation of the original version that appeared on Unhinged, the debut compilation from LPS. With a slower pace and a more ponderous groove, Wright explores ghastly atmospheric moods with unnerving results. Spooky stuff! The final song pads the album with two minutes of the Laup’s Senip theme as some kind of perverted lullaby, thus ending Kick Drum Inertia on a demented note.

Kick Drum Inertia is immense fun if Neural Rectifier Syndrome’s distinct style strikes you in the right place. At first, most of the album might sound undifferentiated, since the songs are so similar. With time, I have found that the differences emerge. Years after it was released, I still reach for it when I am seeking for an exhilarating mental journey into the twisted depths of night. In the final reckoning, Neural Rectifier Syndrome defies trends and conventions to unleash one of the finest dark psytrance albums ever made with the release of Kick Drum Inertia. Recommended.