I’ve made no bones about my undying lust for industrial music – despite the fact that in the 30-odd years since the term was first coined by bands like Throbbing Gristle and Einstürzende Neubauten, the “industrial” label has been slapped on just about any hard electronic band that sounds like Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails or Ministry – awesome bands all, but ones which never really embraced that handle to begin with.

Whether you want to pigeon-hole a band as “industrial” or not, any group that uses old and new technology to twist sounds into bizarre, challenging and even horrifying new shapes is a group that gets my attention. Skinny Puppy was one such outfit, gaining iconic status by smashing the basic rules of electronic club music to create a dark, layered and horror-drenched sound that could give you nightmares and make you get up and dance at the same time. Now that’s skills, baby.

A lot of artists have adopted SP’s techniques, but few, if any, have the same sinister gift. After years spent searching the airwaves and all of cyberspace in vain, I finally found a band who can work the same voodoo. 

Hailing from Verona, Italy, Bahntier managed in just a few short years to gain a strong foothold in the next wave of so-called “post-industrial,” and I’d call them worthy successors to the Puppy throne. In fact, the first time I’d heard a Bahntier track, I thought I’d stumbled upon a lost SP cut from the late ‘80s, when the Pups were at their creative peak. So, hardcore music geek that I am, I had to dig deeper into this phenomenon. 

Founded in 1999 by Stefano Rossello as an ambient-experimental project, Bahntier mutated into different sonic forms over the next two years, becoming harsher, louder and more terrifying, and soon catching the attention of Europe’s ENDE label, who released their first demo Subspecies and helped guide them into the public arena – with a chilling live show that was less of a simple concert than nerve-jangling multimedia performance art. 

Two full albums for ENDE and live shows with electro heavyweights like Suicide Commando followed, with the band’s sound evolving further into the “power noise” dynamic that has become their stock in trade – a style enhanced by the addition of “noise manipulator” Filippo Corradin and multi-talented percussionist & producer Justin Bennett (who has played onstage with Skinny Puppy, Peter Murphy and Thrill Kill Kult). The new Bahntier sound was fully realized on albums Revulsive and Blindoom, both released by Rustblade Records, and seared the ears, eyes and brains of thousands during their performance at Germany’s historic Wave Gothic Treffen festival in 2006. 

The band has taken their self-named “Psycho-Industrial” sound a step further with Venal, a pulse-pounding voyage into the dark beyond and their strongest material to date – and you'll know it immediately when the first salvo of coarse cyber-tribal percussion and distorted chanting smacks you straight in the junk with the opening title track.

Rossello's vocals (sung in English) are remarkably reminiscent of Skinny Puppy's Ogre, but where the latter was possessed with barely-contained hysteria, Rossello's voice has a more reserved, hypnotic quality that lends well to the steady pulsing rhythms and deep bass drones. “Roots” (the album's first single) is a good example of this more controlled vocal style, synched with a rasping whisper and a robotic vocoder effect that calls to mind an alien speech synthesizer – all while managing to keep an icy death-grip on a surprisingly strong melodic hook.

But the delivery isn't always tightly controlled – “My God” is an ear-shredding noise explosion of barely-recognizable vocalizations sliced into digital pieces amidst a shower of rusty-blade electronic percussion, while the breakneck bass line of  “Overblown” is enough to knock out a few teeth, especially when the pile-driver drums join the fight. This track is my hands-down favorite, if only on the strength of its pure balls-out insanity.

After the aptly-titled “Loud” – a virtual slaughterhouse of grinding guitars, screeching synth wails and Rossello's most savage vocal delivery of all – the album closes with chilling instrumental “The Drown,” a pitch-black ambient piece driven by sampled orchestra swells that give way to Bennett's hyperactive live drumming and a punchy rhythm guitar riff, putting an epic final curtain on a deliriously mad opera of doom.

If for no other reason than to shake up the current state of electronic music, we need to hear more from these guys stateside. Mind you the Bahntier sound is not for the faint-hearted, but if you were easily scared I'm guessing you wouldn't be here.

Be sure to give 'em a listen at their MySpace then grab a CD or two and give yourself the sonic spanking you deserve.