Tribazik: Data Warfare

Killing Joke-approved industrial meets psychedelic groove

By Natasha Scharf
( Metal Hammer )
published

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The 90s revival has been going on for aeons but it’s not over yet. We’ve moshed to nu metal, pogoed to grunge, yawned through Britpop and now the six-legged groove machine that is Tribazik have dusted down the finest elements of the techno and industrial crossover – think Pitchshifter, Cubanate and even Fat Of The Land-era Prodigy – on what is only their second album.

Mixed by Killing Joke’s co-founding bassist and remixer extraordinaire Youth, any similarities to Jaz Coleman’s post-punk troupe are arguably intentional, but despite Tribazik’s impressive credentials, they remain an undiscovered gem.

Lurking among these 10 cuts are Too Dead To Care’s thrashing intro of trippy dub fusion and the satisfying grind of Atom, which sounds like it should have been part of Fear Factory’s 90s classic Demanufacture. Then there’s Sonar Sumaria, crammed full of rich gothic atmospheres that showcase Tribazik’s sound.

Heavier and more diverse than their previous material, Data Warfare’s tribal-psych-industrial-rock stays away from the realms of catchy choruses without losing its anthemic quality.

Natasha Scharf
Natasha Scharf
Deputy Editor, Prog

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.