Kangarot - Wholly Hex

As I gazed upon Kangarot's second album Nursery of New Stars that sits nicely on my shelf, I remember time spent in a vast space station in the middle of an unexplored galaxy. The synthwave inspired electronics were an absolute blast to get through then as they are today. However, it has been quite some time since I have followed the act's progression so when I heard of their latest LP Wholly Hex I found myself reminiscing days spent enjoying Kangarot's tunes. 

Released in already sold out CD and cassette formats, Kangarot's cult following is still there and has amassed around Josh Reed's project immensely - and for good reason. Wholly Hex is seven tracks of hardware synth that follows in the steps of noisy industrial and beat laced EBM. Taking a look at the very punchy opening track 'Phonophobia', anyone will immediately notice the amount of OOMPH within the track. This is not your normal club song, but these songs are for the outsiders of the outsiders; weird music for weird people. Tape distortion is also somewhat present, and when the song has a mental breakdown around the three minute and ten second mark, all is bliss. 

'Communist Workers' International' keeps up the pace with more punchy industrial mixed with Kangarot's trademark electronic clips, while 'XM Comedy' slowly but surely rises the BPM with whisper/growled vocals attached. Perhaps 'Book of Noah' is a track that flies back to Nursery of New Stars, as the song sounds both futuristic and heavy hitting at the same time. Every beat sounds like the crash of a laser into a meteor and the lovely sci-fi inspired synths helps build the mood.

'Villa Belvoir' switches between fast and slow paced rhythm all while retaining a smooth ride feel, and 'Cutting on Action' is an anti-harmonic mess that's bright and beautiful. 'Silver Chimaera' is a good culmination of all thoughts presented on the album to see us on our way out. 

While I am still more of a fan of Nursery of New Stars, the sold out testament of Wholly Hex stands strong. It's a good, decent, and fun album for any industrial fan who is looking for something a bit more wonky or different from the standard EBM or dance friendly electro-industrial album. Kangarot stands out for his flashy and always unique tunes and Wholly Hex is no different. 
May 07 2016