Attrition's Martin Bowes has always approached his take on electro-gothic music with a precise and artistic touch, and this collection of remixes only enhances that aspect of the band. Unlike most remix albums, The Hand That Feeds is not a showcase for other bands to deconstruct the original material and dominate with their own styles, this album handles the original songs with a great deal of respect, improving and strengthening the original material. Attrition have always been a nexus of industrial fury, gothic drama, ambient structural finesse and classical chamber orchestrations. Stunning in scope, character and intellect, Martin Bowes has always been a paragon of true creative prowess, holding in two hands the past and future of music, and smashing them together with a calculated and charismatic menace. Bowes will build his dark industrial music with all the compassion and attention to detail of a classical musician, and with this to work with, the remixers on The Hand That Feeds have a lot to live up to, and they do it. Cold Genius and Waste Not Want….More are turned into moments of darkly electronic minimalist dance tracks by Polaxe and D.O.S. respectively, after which a heavy punch is delivered by Stromkern's apocalyptic assault on Cosmetic Citizen, a track that single-handedly reinvents "industrial-gothic", mixing the banshee vocals of Julia Waller down against the elegant menace of Bowes' voice, all against a raging and beautiful electronic storm. Chris And Cosey place a sinister electronica pulse under I Am (Eternity), while In The Nursery apply their skeletal filmic touches to the same song. A wicked Middle Eastern gothic groove propels Morbus Kitahara's mix of White Men Talk, creating a truly engaging and vaguely ominous piece of music. Attrition remix The Mercy Machine, a violent and extremely visual track, and heighten the surreal theme of submitting to a strange bio-machine. Of particular note is The Truth remix of Ephemeral by Craig Ward; the Ephemera was a limited-edition release of Bowes' sound experimentations, and Ward here gives them a sublime beat while maintaining the original cold minimalism. Each mix does justice to the original tracks and often improves them by an overall update of the sound. Also, the remixers all take the opportunity to soften the edges or tone down the sometimes abrasive mock-operatic vocals of Julia Waller, and this is an improvement much needed. The Hand That Feeds is a monumental release; it takes a brilliant band and augments or highlights their strengths and artistically smoothes the rough spots, allowing Attrition's true capabilities to ultimately shine through.

review by: Phosphor