Unitron Thought Industry-Songs for Insects

'Songs for Insects' is the debut studio album by avant-garde/thrash metal band Thought Industry. This is one weird band and album, and you may wonder how they got signed to a major label so quickly in their career. Well, Metallica's Jason Newsted brought their demo to the ears of Metal Blade Records and they were signed on. Thought Industry would continue to be pretty damn weird until their fourth release in 1997 when they moved in an alternative rock direction.

If you listen to this album once, you most likely won't fully understand it. However, the more you listen, the more the pure strangeness just sinks into your brain. This is no ordinary thrash album as you can most likely tell by the usage of Salvador Dali's 'Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonitions of Civil War)' as an album cover. This is a crazy avant-garde technical thrash metal album with a big smorgasbord of musical styles combined, and probably one of the most unique albums I've ever heard. The opening track 'Third Eye' is an instant gem. I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, the fast-paced drum beats and the grooving stomp of the guitars opens this song perfectly. Once Brent Oberlin's vocals come in, it fits perfectly with the crunching guitar and just sends chills down my spine. Easily my favorite on the album.

The weirdness comes in with the next song, the title track. This nearly 10-minute song never stays in one place. From thrashing goodness, to menacing passages with meandering guitar, to crazy drumming combined with wacky bass slaps that would later be heard in Mudvayne's 'L.D. 50' album. My second favorite from the album is probably 'Cornerstone' with it's industrial groove. Oberlin gives some strange vocals here, with weird guitar and mechanical drum pounding. The avant-garde strangeness continues with 'Daughter Mobius', which enters in with what sounds like some folk dance before thrashing guitar comes in. Next is the beautiful acoustic track 'Alexander Vs. The Puzzle', before being assaulted with another wacky thrash song in 'Ballerina' with great unique vocals from Oberlin. As you can probably tell, the lyrics are mostly surreal and unconventional, matching the Dali album cover.

Overall, this will most likely be one of the weirdest albums you'll ever hear. It may take a few listens to really enjoy it, but I highly recommend this album to anyone wanting something weird, avant-garde, and unique. If you like thrash metal, groove metal, industrial metal, or anything avant-garde, this has elements of all of those. Hope you found this review helpful.

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siLLy puPPy Back in the 90s i was eagerly awaiting the release of a new THOUGHT INDUSTRY album after falling in love with their first two whacked out takes on progressive metal. I knew they wouldn't simply repeat their sounds of the previous albums but when I finally got this and put it on I was extremely disappointed. They tamed their sound so much they sounded like an average alternative rock band with progressive leanings. This is pretty much when I wrote them off and moved on.

After listening to this many years later, I have to say that this album isn't as bad as I remember, however it is still falls way short of winning me over like their first two albums. The titles live up to the surreal Thought Industry standards but that is where the similarities from previous works end. While songs like “Jeb and the Haymaker” have some interesting sounds, most of the tracks are a little underwhelming for my standards of this band. For me this is a hit and miss assortment. For those who thought the first two albums were just a little too wild, they might be more into this than I am.

siLLy puPPy Whereas their first album was more of a philosophical affair, this second release by THOUGHT INDUSTRY firmly falls into the surreal camp matching the Dali cover art in strangeness. However, political, philosophical and personal references are common. Still firmly rooted in some kind of punkish progressive thrash metal, the experiments are more daring and in your face this time around. I am very happy to say though that they are a smashing success. This is another grower. One thing I love about this band is no two albums sound the same. They were having none of the stagnation that so many other bands get trapped into.

The roller coaster ride begins with the aggressive “Horsepowered” and takes us through a variety of sounds including occasional acoustic and slide guitars and keyboards up to the instrumental proggy metal closer “To Build A Better Bulldozer.” An amazingly successful followup to SONGS FOR INSECTS. Unfortunately the two first albums would be the only two Thought Industry albums with the same lineup and the most experimental before going in another direction and taming their sound for the following albums. Very unique and highly recommended.

siLLy puPPy First of all, I must say that this didn't start out as a masterpiece when I first heard it 20 years ago. I picked up this first album by the Kalamazoo, Michigan band totally by chance not knowing a thing about it. Only intrigued by the Dali cover art, the band name, the title and the track names. Nothing else was like this then and to this day I still have not heard anything that sounds like this. Once I started listening it was a very strange form of metal indeed. I'm still not sure what this is but I guess progressive punky thrash metal would be the best description that fits but there's an avant-garde feel to the whole thing as well.

Even after the first listen I wasn't sure if I liked this but there was an underlying catchiness to it that kept me listening to it over and over. After many years and many listens, SONGS FOR INSECTS has grown on me to the point where I love this album and it ranks very high on my faves list. Every song is well constructed. With interesting philosophical lyrics and progressive twists and turns, it really takes you on intriguing rides. I pretty much love everything about this including the vocals by frontman Brent Oberlin, which at first sound a little weak but over time I have found them perfect for the sound and it doesn't dissuade me from giving this album the highest of praise.