Designer Violence - Televised State Lies

I am going to skip the introductory shenanigans for Designer Violence as this interview covers almost everything that you need to know about duo Nina and Tessa. Instead, let me get you caught up to date on the adventures of Designer Violence. Since the interview and their debut album "When Beauty Expires" released, Designer Violence put out a small, three-track EP titled "Suffer/Decomposed". Now, in 2021, Designer Violence comes back with a vengeance showing that they've been doing their homework in old-school, DIY industrial stylings and hardware manipulation with their six track EP "Televised State Lies". Before I even begin to write about the EP, I would like to state that "Televised State Lies" is one of those rare releases that made me stop my note-taking because the music took me over. I was moved, goosebumps crawled all over my skin, I felt rather emotional, and I sat in the chair at my desk and just stared at the ceiling until the EP passed. 



The five-minute and forty-second epic 'Not Dead Yet' kicks off the album. It starts with experimental noise and ambiance with distorted samples. Shortly after, an EBM bassline kicks in that immediately smashed my expectations. Vocals in the vein of spoken word (spicy spoken word, at that) deliver attitude as crushing shouts vented off pits of rage and anger. Not a moment in the track felt out of place. My initial surprise didn't end but only increased when 'Revolution' hit. The subtlest of synth lines hit in the background and sets the mood for the rest of the song, delivering an emotional ballad of political frustrations. Kicking electro-industrial beats dominated the majority of the track with electrifying notes never sounding out of place or in disarray. 

As structural as the first two tracks might have been, Designer Violence is not afraid to get their hands dirty with experimental tinges, as seen in 'Illuminate'. Truly beckoning to early industrial mechanics, 'Illuminate' sounds as if a warehouse's robotics were on the fritz and that Designer Violence sampled each of those malfunctioning machines and created this song out of it. Downright dirty and filthy, it's everything I love about crunchy industrial mechanics. Dashing in the opposite direction but managing to keep the crunch alive, Designer Violence looked to the dance mechanics of EBM for 'Total State Terror'. While I felt that one of the pulsations was a bit too loud in comparison to the rest of the song (often times taking over my headphones), the rest of the song was rightly put together. 

The two-minute, intermission-like piece that was 'Liminal' was an odd choice to put as the fifth track. It's a quiet noise track with some samples and electronic notes interlaced, but it did not really hit me as hard as the rest of the album. Instead, on each replay of the album, I was more or less wanting to get right into the heavy beats of 'Head Trauma'. Nonetheless, it is only a little over two-minutes and served as a minor diversion from an otherwise fantastic EP. Lastly, 'Head Trauma' mixed the nuances of punk with electronics, as did pioneers of industrial during the eighties. A well done final piece for an extraordinary EP. 

Designer Violence's "Televised State Lies" makes everything that they've done in the past look like demo work. Listening to "When Beauty Expires" in comparison to "Televised State Lies" makes me see how far Designer Violence has come in such a short period of time. They take what their idols (Skinny Puppy, Einstürzende Neubauten, Depeche Mode) started and morph it into a modern day tribute. But this is so much more than a tribute as, rather than following in the footsteps of those that came before them, Designer Violence sets their own tracks and absolutely smashes the barrier of modern industrial. As small time as Designer Violence currently is, they are a force to be watched. Nine out of ten; so far my favorite release of 2021. 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
Apr 23 2021