Album Details

• Artist: 16volt
• Album: Wisdom
• Label: Metropolis
• Year of Release: 1993
• Original Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2012-05-14

"Wisdom" is this month's history lesson is also one of its
more powerful testaments. 1993's Wisdom" was released in the heyday of
Industrial, and it proved that 16Volt could stand with the likes of Ministry
and Skinny Puppy. So many years along it still holds up, and delivers the kind of
grinding raw kick in the balls that made the genre so defiant in the first
place.

16Volt is the vision of Eric Powell, one of the first
solo-artist-with-a-name-that-sounds-like-a-full-band types, and his mastery of
keyboards and guitar are rampant on this record, from the icy majesty of
"Motorskill" and "Filthy Love of Fire" to the riotous guitar freakout "Hand
Over End," Powell is not only fully invested in his rage, but he has the chops
to realize its depths and release points. Cathartic is beside the starting point
here. Songs like "Will" are the blueprint for many a band that has come along
in 16Volt's wake.

Like most reissues worth its salt, "Wisdom" comes with
additional goodies as three remix tracks plus a demo and couple rare tracks.
Even without stuff from the vault, this is an essential release. Unless you
were around then you probably missed the original, since it was on a small
label (Re-Construction) that flamed out after only a few years. Kudos to
Metropolis for resurrecting this foundational record.

User Reviews and Comments