After a long series of delays, setbacks and mishaps, the debut EP by Nathan Moody aka Railgun finally comes to light. Moody first appeared as Railgun on Scar Tissue's remix album, Rebuild and then re-appeared recently on Dion Fortune's tribute to writer HP Lovecraft, The Challenge From Beyond. Moody is a bit of a Renaissance man, being active not only as a musician, but as a visual artist as well (he did the cover art for Flesh Field's debut, Viral Extinction), a web designer, writer, animator and special effects artist. All these things manifest themselves in some manner in the Delta IV EP, an eight-track juggernaut of rhythmic noise and danceable melody. Harsh dance beats, pounding machine noise, batteries of distortion and samples all interact with superbly crafted melodies and addictive dance rhythms. Scarab meshes noisy sound effects and samples with infectious dance routines and blindingly dark atmospheres; And Then The Machines is straight-out technoid menace, while Schizm invokes a heavy drum and bass foundation, detailed by a strange hybrid of technoid and electronic pop music. The Takshaka remix laces the track with noise, distortion and languid gloom. A break in the chaos is provided by Interlude: Dream Four, which is darkly ambient with a slow groove. Scar Tissue remix Gunrunner, which is, apart from Scarab, the highlight of the EP; a crawling wash of utter darkness, propelled by a seething rhythm, rife with tension and fear. Railgun ultimately sound like a more danceable Gridlock, with less noise and more beat. Moody recognizes the power inherent in power noise and technoid structures, but also seems to have an affection for danceable rhythms and an appreciation for a good melody. Haunting, violent, abrasive and infectious, Delta IV is the perfect mix of ghostly manipulations, dangerous energy and explosive violence, and establishes Railgun as a presence to watch.

review by: Phosphor