The world is quite literally in flames right now, in a multitude of ways. Wars, genocides, corruption, propaganda, economical collapse, world leader pedophile rings, you name it. While things obviously haven’t been exactly peachy for a long time, probably not since some amoeba somewhere developed two legs and started walking upright, this decade in particular has been nothing but a continuous, crippling skullfuck on most facets of life. Some positive developments have taken place here and there of course, but overall, the permanent dread has settled in and is far more pervasive and palpable, effectively overshadowing the better things. I wish I could add a ‘but‘ right here and turn this train of thought around, yet even after a hundred tries, I fail to do just that in any meaningful way. All we can do is to withstand, seethe, cope, and try to outlast the worst of it, which at this rate will never come to pass. At least we have music with us.
URANIUM, the one-man self-proclaimed blackened industrial nuclear assault project from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sounds exactly as the above paragraph reads; annihilating, destructive, cacophonic, and bleak as fuck.
URANIUM‘s exact starting point is a tad uncertain, but the first releases under this moniker (evolved from its previous form called Disfigure The Face Of Man) came out in 2021, by means of a single and an EP titled The Glorious Void. The groundwork got further established and reaffirmed during 2022 and the release of the second EP/compilation of these two called Wormboiler, which got spread like a plague within the harsher underground circles thanks to Sentient Ruin figuratively jumping at the helm and releasing it. This disfigured foray into a nonspecific and grating blend of power electronics, industrial, noise, black metal, and techno, was its own to cement the project’s position in enthusiasts’ minds early on. With that in mind, you could say that URANIUM has been fittingly soundtracking the decade so far.
Productivity is definitely the project’s advantage, as illustrated already in 2023 by starting the year with the full-length An Exacting Punishment, and closing it with another one, the rather poignantly titled PURE NUCLEAR DEATH. I first wrote of the artist on my review of the former, which solidified my adoration and respect towards his annihilating and eardrum-puncturing ways. An Exacting Punishment was an ultra-violent endeavour from start to finish, with next to no relenting – or in some ways redeeming – moments in between. I remember being swept off of my feet with the unforgiving density the monolithic opener “Trinity” threw at me, as the sensation was nothing short of just running blindfolded into a concrete wall. The obvious concussion would then only be emphasized by the other four songs, out of which the titular track especially deserves a shout, being some of the finest works in the industrial world ever since the beginning of the entire genre.
PURE NUCLEAR DEATH felt in many ways as, not an annex as such, but a complementary second half to what was brought upon us on An Exacting Punishment, only in somehow even more disturbing form. Whereas the previous one made use of some resemblances of compositional dynamics, PURE NUCLEAR DEATH feels like the artist flipping off at the very idea of being listenable, in layman’s terms. The cacophony is scorching throughout; from the pummeling stroboscopic start of “ABSOLUTE TERROR” to the last distorted dying wails of “BLACK KNIGHT SATELLITE”, the album is a monolith of torment and a test of endurance.
There is a lot of value in something being so overwhelming, positively for once I might add, that the world around you shuts down entirely, even if only for a moment. Pushing sound to its extremes, all the way up to the point where the separation between music and static becomes mere semantics, has a discernible meditative effect. Since everything is so loud all the time, it’s as if something like URANIUM is enough to finally short-circuit the brain and just leave the listener drooling with an empty expression for as long as is needed – palate cleansing from the world, if you will. I don’t know if harsh noise therapy is a thing, but it definitely fucking should be.
The next while saw URANIUM focusing on experimentation via some EPs and singles, and while each is definitely a required listening, the most notable out of them is perhaps the surprisingly dubby and dynamic PRIMORDIAL, which serves as an important cornerstone in the project’s career both sonically as well as conceptually. It isn’t exactly easy-listening, albeit the constant barrage has been exchanged, or developed rather, to a more nuanced and ponderous one. The dark ambient tendencies on PRIMORDIAL emphasize the ominous and dreadful aspects of the project more than before, the result being so unbelievably haunting that I’d advice against listening to it unless your medication’s in order and at hand.
This notable evolution in the artist’s output then lead to what I’d call URANIUM‘s most fully realised and comprehensive form yet, exemplified to a stellar degree on last year’s Corrosion of Existence, which we also reviewed over here.
Corrosion of Existence, in all of its harrowing and blistering fugliness, does everything and more to serve its very title. The five songs on it each bear their own signature flair alongside URANIUM‘s grand red thread, reaching the perfect balance between death industrial, power electronics, and noise with blackened overtones. Just vision nightmares in broad daylight, being chased by the monster that once stayed under your bed, barefoot on rusty nails and malnourished, as the scenery around you is stained piss yellow from poison fumes and the horizon is gleaming crimson with eternal fires spreading uncontrollably. If the state of the world outlined in the opening paragraph would be summed up by means of music, it would be this. On repeat. And loud as shit.
The ruination of everything runs rampant and on each passing day you can trust everything less and less, but the one exception to that might be URANIUM, since as much is obvious as of now. No matter the day, time, or occasion, URANIUM is always welcome to pulverize everything and take no hostages, and I’m glad that the connoisseurs of dark arts at Sentient Ruin has offered a good home for this vessel of auditory devastation. The recent history does hint at the fact that we can expect more sooner rather than later, and I know I’m waiting on the front row. You should too, and a good way to do that is to follow URANIUM on Instagram and take his discography for its umpteenth spin through Bandcamp.
