Hypnoskull is the over the top hardcore industrial project by Patrick Stevens. He was the co-founder of the minimal industrial/noise outfit Sonar, of which industrial legend Dirk Ivens is still a member. Through out his career Hypnoskull has gained a good name, especially in the industrial hardcore and power electronics scenes.
Operation tough guy! is the fourth Hypnoskull album and is again filled with harsh pounding beats that would be the perfect soundtrack for the hectic life in big cities. The bombardment of beats on this disc goes on and on, but in different styles like electro, jungle, breakbeats, industrial and techno. Next to that Operation tough guy! could be labeled as fast and loud, sometimes even getting a bit neurotic.
But by using different rhythms and style elements the album stays interesting. There are a lot of short tracks on the cd that at times are even more like sketches than actual tracks. This benefits the album, because it is more pleasant to listen to this way. Despite this Operation tough guy! is still a hard album to listen to. The best way is to make a selection of songs each time you play the cd. This way the noise can be consumed in a healthy dose.
A good selection might be: ‘On & On!’, ‘Technothrill’, ‘Schaltlabor Zentral’, ‘Rock & Roll Into Your Electronic’, ‘Everything Is Operational’, ‘Prophecies Of The Hidden Agenda’ and ‘One Thousand 978 Tales Of The Dark City’. All twenty tracks in a row would be an overdose. This is electronic terrorism!
