Benjamin John Power's new album as Blanck Mass, Dumb Flesh, is quite literally electronic body music. Its artwork zooms in uncomfortably on synthetically disfigured flab; its track titles make reference to various states of corporeal corrosion.
And what a feeling, this flesh dance. Power's monstrous duo F*** Buttons makes heavy, rhythmic music that rewires your mind (and scores Olympic ceremonies), and his previous recordings as Blanck Mass have been brainy noise, but Dumb Flesh is mental in a very different way. Take its lead single, "Dead Format," an ominous, jacked-up juggernaut that's as seductive as it is scary. The sinewy beat throttles forward as distortion coats a vintage Nine Inch Nails melody that grows more intense by the measure. It's dance music for heavy sweating — when Power finally drops contorted, chopped-up vocals into the fray, the froth is damn near palpable.
Dumb Flesh is out now on Sacred Bones.
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