While many bands have tried and failed, it appears as though the Danish are perhaps the first to find the perfect balance between Canada's Strapping Young Lad and America's Fear Factory as "Velvet Noise" finds Raunchy being exactly that. Grating industrial driven beats, shredding riffs and haunting melodies are all part of this bands often mechanically sounding arsenal of experimental sound works and all seem to impact with enough force to tip over a tank.

A mature blend of electronic and metallic sounds are often struck on this effort and lock tight grooves are the ever necessary engine to keep it all in motion, relentlessly pummeling the listener into submission as each song progresses onward. From chilling synth work to pounding double kick drum assaults that are syncopated with the crunchy guitar riffing so closely that shades of the almighty Meshuggah can even be brought to mind, this band are quite adept at holding the listeners attention and their decisions to factor in various shades of melody and experimentation skillfully provide the diversity needed to keep the dynamic energy flaring.

Indeed this is a highly capable metal release and while the somewhat flat production does get the better of it on more than one occasion, it still stands tall as an enjoyable listen. It's true that the approach taken here is somewhat scatterbrained overall, but where most bands in this genre dive into the all too cliche restrictions of new wave, caustic industrial or cyberpunk cheese, this group instead embrace everything they can get their hands on and while it may not work on all levels, the fact that those levels are even there is a testament to the potential this group have. Yes this record may have already been released some time ago in Europe and is just now seeing a proper release in North America, but it still stands the test of time and perhaps the greatest thing about such a lapse in making it to our shores is that those swayed by the band on this effort won't have too long to wait for a follow-up.