Blu Anxxiety

Baptized in Space [7-inch] (2019)

John Gentile

Blu Anxxiety is the modern form of industrial. They might distance themselves from the tag (on Discogs they’re listed as “Post-Punk”), but as the band crunches through two propulsive, beat backed tracks, the band hails the hallmarks of early Skinny Puppy and Alien Sex Fiend. Perhaps the difference is that while most current industrial is very slickly produced (often to the point where it almost sounds retro), Blu Anxxiety is decidedly down and dirty.

Not that genre necessarily matters. But, Blu Anxxiety, across the span of two tracks, do an excellent job of hitting the goalposts of what is usually referred to as industrial. For one thing, they’re spooky as hell. “Baptized in Space” creates a picture that harkens back to the earliest days of religion all while setting the scene in the far future. Meanwhile, a sometimes bouncy, sometimes jarring beat cranks the song along so that it oscillates between being danceable and threatening. Meanwhile, just like the earliest industro-meisters and goth kings, the band keeps some yuks in the jams. “I Haunt Myself” is not only a funny concept, but one that can be pulled apart to reveal the complexities of mental health. Hiding the profound in the punchy is not easy to do, but it’s also why Ministry and the like rose above so many other mid-range evil-beatmakers. Plus, Blu Anxxiety throw in a live guitar here and there which gives them that much more edge.

There’s a lot going on in this two track single, both sonically (dozens of blips and bleeps and howls) and conceptually, so it can require focus to mentally process all the teeth here. But, if you forge your way through, you’ll find one of the more interesting electronic statements of the year. This band is ready to make an LP, for sure.