Non-Aggression Pact ‘broadcasts’ dark, techno beats on album

Reviewed by SCOTT SWINDELLS
Collegian Staff Writer

What do you get when you combine entrancing hip-hop drum loops with gruff and edgy speech-rap vocals, all laid down on a bed of audio clips from pornographic films and news broadcasts?

If you said insanity, award yourself 1 point.

But Broadcast-Quality Belligerence, the latest release from tech-rappers Non-Aggression Pact, may also be the salvation of industrial music.

According to the press release from Re-Constriction/Cargo Music, Florida programmer Jeff Hilliard and vocalist Jason Whitcomb have reunited in response to fans who have waited three years for a follow-up to their first release, 9mm Grudge.

Whitcomb's rap 'n snarl poetry reveals his pessimistic view of human emotion. The lyrics to "Belligerent" don't mince words: "Lying shameless/ your legs wide open/ Violent dreaming/ something I've never felt/ Who's to blame when your heart's cleft open?"

The dark undertones are well-hidden beneath Poe-esque drum beats and techno sounds that range from synthesized pulses to Glockenspiel bells.

But it's hard to overlook the lyrics on songs like "Marked," where Whitcomb's distorted voice breaks through the calm, funky beats to say, "Warm my victim/ shakes the walls/ your mind bending slowly/ Sinking without her, to take the shame/ My hands caress her body but the thrill takes me farther."

So when NAP veers into familiar, pop-industrial territory, don't get too comfortable -- Whitcomb always returns to the weird, using distorted rap vocals over music you swear you used to hear on Nintendo.

Don't be fooled by the Crystal Method-inspired introduction to "Deeper Blades," where the phrase "Power from the street" is repeated over and over again.

The song however, doesn't stay predictable for long, dissolving into Whitcomb's effects-laden and raspy vocals, which are robotic and often difficult to understand.

This album has taken on the vocal qualities and quirky beats of Stabbing Westward and Nine Inch Nails, while adding danceable beats and so many humorous samples you can't hear them all in just one listening.

It's a pleasing combination that makes for a rare success.

And if the repetition of the sampled word "Ultra" on the track that bears its name catches your ear, you'll understand where these guys are coming from. Any group that samples the voice of the peons in the PC game WarCraft has to be cool.