Jamie Blacker: angry, conflicted soul and creative force with which to be reckoned. Part of England's underground Blackened Death Metal scene earlier in the decade he was seduced by the raw, rhythmic power of acts like Sonar and Converter and felt he might be able to take his malevolent sensibilities and translate them into the kind of digital damnation he wasn't reaching through Metal. Hence the blistered birth of Electronic Substance Abuse (ESA) in 2003. A fast learner, it didn't take Jamie long to figure out his new set of tools and he signed with Hive Records in 2006 releasing the debut album Devotion, Discipline and Denial to a great deal of critical acclaim which grew more fervent with the release of his second album, How Pure Would Your Utopia Be? early last year.

Uncompromisingly heavy with only spare use of guitar Blacker's attack features a rhythmic Industrial approach with plenty of noise and distortion tempered by touches of atmospheric synth and a kind of tribal sensibility. With every compilation appearance and remixing gig ESA seems to grow in popularity and the artist's enviable evolution has now brought forth The Sea & The Silence, a monumental effort that grows on the listener with every spin yet also manages to sink its eerie tendrils into your eardrums right as the first monstrous beat drops.

The title track is split into two parts and the first begins with the sound of waves crashing against the shore while a feminine voice intones a cryptic spoken word passage. Then the hyper kinetic rhythm starts in with a loop of scathing distortion and what sounds curiously like ominous ringing bells. Minimalist in approach, passages recur than pass from the foreground only to return again like the oceanic waves at the beginning. Halfway through the beat drops away momentarily and when it resurfaces it is accompanied by a middle Eastern vocal and quite a bit more intensity. Part II then begins quietly with more lush ethnic vocals which give way to to Sufi instrumentation and Tabla-style percussion. Stretching on for another six and a half minutes the piece ends with labored breathing and the feeling of being lost in the desert, the sea so very far behind you. Or far ahead of you. In any case it's gone and the soothing peace of the waves is lost.

Those two tracks provide the epic centerpiece to the album but certainly don't tell the whole story. Titles like "Your Anger Is A Gift" and "Absolute Fury (In Its Very Fabric)" obviously speak to Powernoise and while using a catch-all buzz phrase like that doesn't entirely describe the full range exhibited within these particular tracks the uptempo aggression and unrelenting attitude come through loud and clear. "Dead Fucking Desire" is a menacingly warped work of percussive restraint with deranged samples, male and female tandem vocals and an overall sense of devious dread. "Randomly Selected Drawbacks Of The Human Condition Part 2" features acoustic strumming, lush synths and a beat that once again hints at tribal rhythms. Some gorgeous vocals enter into the mix about halfway through and enhance the hypnotic rise and fall of this magnificent and unexpected piece of music. It leads into the last track which echoes the approach of "Dead Fucking Desire" and mixes it with the organic tribalism of "...Human Condition Part 2."

There's quite a bit of range displayed on The Sea & The Silence which is refreshing to take in after enduring so many Powernoise acts content to maintain the same pounding rhythms ad infinitum. This is smart music though the overall theme seems a little more muddled this time out. On previous albums it has been pretty clear cut but aside from the recurring religious imagery of Satan/the Devil, Morality, Death and the Sea it's up to the individual listener to bring it all together and create personal meaning. In any case this is a phenomenal work of personal growth that well deserves repeated listens and dissemination.

See also: Jamie Blacker: The DTC Interview

See also: See also: Review: The Immaculate Manipulation