Championed by Static-X frontman Wayne Static, Texas based Die Section have managed to generate a healthy buzz throughout the industry and when judging by the music contained on this, their latest EP, its not hard to see why they have earned such accolades from the king of evil disco himself. Filled with aggressive industrial tinged metal that sounds like a mixture of earlier Static-X, White Zombie, Ministry, Skinny puppy and Professional Murder Music, this is a decidedly modern approach at electronic metal combined with industrial overtones that is shaped into ominous and antagonistic song structures.

Band frontman Brandon, who also handles the programming and sampling, can indeed bring to minds shades of Wayne Static at times, but with a much less jagged delivery. More oft than not however, Brandon's oral parts come cloaked in grating distortion, conjuring up images of a more aggro, present day incarnation of Ministry's Al Jourgensen coupled with a slight gothic influence. The guitar parts played are quite crunchy and in your face while also utilizing a similar type of washed out distortion which the vocals employ. Unfortunately though, it is also this distorted accompaniment that makes the guitar parts more of a scratchy sonic garnish, rather a fundamental element of the songs. The bass playing is fairly timid, following the guitars lead and laying down a roomy low end that is quite hard to distinguish overall, while live throbbing percussion, heavy on cymbal use and what sounds to be the occasional double kick slams its way over top of viciously programmed beats. Its hard to dispute that the electronic portion of this disc is definitely the dominant force within the bands sound, pulsing through the tracks with a style that suggests as though it were caught somewhere in-between modern day rave and early 90's industrial. However, despite its consistently vigorous pace, there are still a few fluttering sonic nuances and what not included that catch the listener off guard, making it a welcome addition to the music overall.

Its interesting to see a band like Die Section draw upon influences of music not heard much in recent years and update it accordingly to give it a present day flair. Their material is heavy and rife with electronic bombast, yet also has the more brooding and perhaps less packaged direction than that of their contemporary peers. Still, though the band do sound genuine in their approach, there is a certain issue that does tend to seriously hamper the enjoyment that this release could contain and sadly, that issue is the production. It's just too hard to really tell what's going on in the songs because the electronic inclusions are so prominent within the mix that you can barely hear the guitar riffs or bass playing, not too mention sometimes even the vocals. As such, you get a constant pummeling of beats and a wall of what sounds to be fierce noise and feedback, but not much else. Another con is the somewhat thin guitar sound; Perhaps if the band employed a slightly more varied technique and tried on some deeper tones, the songs would instantly become more aggressive and clear. Ultimately, the songs could also benefit from a wider range of vocals from Brandon, who's parts always seem a bit garbled, whether it be to electronic enhancements or their fairly straightforward nature. All in all, these 5 tracks show that the band have potential and an intriguing approach, yet its hard to truly get a solid feel for their music with such a technically hampered representation of what could have been a much more enthralling and striking mixture of technology and metal.