A.T.Mödell - Music is For Fun, Mothefuckers!

A.T.Mödell's fifth studio album is not something that should be listened to if you're in the mood for a serious album or one that's about modern political structure. Due to Covid-19 and the endless political controversies over the past couple of years, many musicians looked to their art as stress relief. Most of the time in the industrial scene, this took form in political rants or concept albums focusing on futuristic Dystopian cities that reflect the modern day. However, few so chose to simply sit back and have fun with their art. I feel as if that mentality has simply fallen flat over the past year or so for understandable reasons. However, looking at A.T.Mödell is a breath of fresh air; their album "Music is For Fun, Motherfuckers!" speaks wonders about their creative philosophy. 

Rather than focusing on pessimistic themes and grotesque ideals, A.T.Mödell focuses on simply having a great time making and creating music. However, as much as I praise A.T.Mödell's philosophy in making music, that does not mean that "Music is For Fun, Motherfuckers!" is a good album. Again, it is a breath of fresh air in the face of a year long of negativity, but lack of song structure and poor production value makes "Music is For Fun, Motherfuckers!" a chore to get through at the worst of times. 



The album starts off with a surprisingly well made, noisey and cinematic intro piece titled 'Conceptless'. Whirring synths, alarm like noises, and futuristic ambient touches warped me more or less into a sci-fi world rather than the industrial metal and aggrotech hybrid I was about to be launched into. Nonetheless, I appreciated every moment of this opener. As good as the opener is, however, it transitions fluently into 'Charge Restart (We'll Raze Like Thunder)'. I felt as if this single was a hodgepodge of ideas thrown together without any intent of sticking together. It's an amalgamation of heavy, dance-driven gritty synths matched alongside awful, shouted vocals. 

There are plenty of other songs on "Music is For Fun, Motherfuckers!" that completely miss the mark in terms of song structure and sound. 'Puppies and Rainbows' is one of them, which sounds like a garage-band demo at best with some electronic blitzes that sound like a dying computer. 'An Open Wound That Oozes Something Black" is another track that I found insufferable. There's an underlying bassline, but thanks to so many of the other sounds and synths overlaying it, hardly a unique sample is made out to my ear. Overall, it comes out sounding like mush rather than a coherent track. 

One of my other major complaints about the album is the general production value - or lack thereof. "Music is For Fun, Motherfuckers!" is billed as a fifth studio album, but it really does not sound like this album was recorded professionally at all. There's an underlying demo-quality feel to "Music is For Fun, Motherfuckers!" as a whole. I had a hard time listening to it on my studio headphones which are supposed to make every sound crisp and pop; nothing was really crisp and nothing had much clarity on "Music is For Fun, Motherfuckers!" 

Alas, despite my many, many complaints about the album, that is not to say that there isn't a positive note here or there to say about the album. Again, going back to the beginning of the album, 'Conceptless' is a wonderful intro track. Aside from that, 'Red Stains' is a pretty good track with an EBM bassline. I do think it would have benefitted from proper mixing and mastering, but as it stands it is one of the highlights on the album. The heavy synths are wicked. I also think that 'Kissed and Killed' is half-decent. It's a stompy, minimalistic song with plenty of punch with each drop of bass. However, just as I felt about 'Red Stains', I felt as if this could have used proper mixing and mastering as well. 

A.T.Mödell's "Music is For Fun, Motherfuckers!" thus comes off as a light-hearted album with great intentions. I can still respect and applaud A.T.Mödell for going with their gut instinct and making an album that they wanted to make while having fun with it. However, this is not an album that I can recommend. The reasons are stated above, but to summarize: the sounds that blend together create a noisy mush rather than coherent songs. Sure, there are glimpses of hope here and there such as in the intro song, 'Red Stains', and 'Kissed and Killed'. However, A.T.Mödell needs to get proper studio help with mixing and mastering to benefit themselves in the future. Unfortunately, then, this is an album that I rate a four-and-a-half out of ten. 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
Jul 03 2021