Review by Chris Pratl on March 23, 2017.

I’m a casual fan of industrial music, especially bands like Wumpscut, VNV Nation, Velvet Acid Christ and Haujobb. I’m also, as you probably ascertained, a black metal fanatic and I’ve heard my fair share of industrialized black metal. While most has not been memorable enough for me to even recall the name of any one band that actually began as an industrial band, Plutonium from Sweden doesn’t do a bad job with its Devilmentertainment Non-Stop CD, which houses recordings made in 2008-09.

What you hear is what you get with Plutonium, and that’s some harsh industrial music wrapped in the comfortable blankets of black metal sensibilities. While not as violent and ear-shattering as Wumpscut, this CD can disrupt your comfort zone pretty adequately if you let it. With an opener like “A Tribute to the Tools of the Cosmic Abortionist” literally slapping you into attention I must admit the constant barrage of blast beats got to me after a bit, but it’s a fine beginning to an album rife with peculiar time changes, musical shape-shifting and straight-ahead black metal riffs from Hell. The slowing and stopping between volatile outbursts plays out like a musical Poe tale that leads you into corners and shadows unfamiliar and frightening. Second to nothing is the music, which catapults your consciousness up and over the normal expectations. Black industrial can actually resonate if implemented in a sincere fashion, and once the title track starts to ingrain into your head like a thorny crown you’ll know this isn’t an recording you’re likely to forget like most others. In short, it’s a very good album that takes bombastic blackness to a new and exalted level.

“The Misery King” is your blueprint black metal song that is the familiar line to follow, but the hints of industrialization are always seeping into the music. I’m not sure if it’s the guitar tone that sets it apart from a ‘normal’ black metal sound, but you can certainly tell there’s a foreign element to the song. I like the prevalent bass in the recording; it resounds even in the louder areas of the tunes, which is an oddity that it’s done so well; usually when attention is paid to the bass it’s turned up so loud that you can hear it pounding out of thumping cars at stop lights, making you seriously consider a career as a professional hit man. This is done well enough to make its presence known and intelligently enough to appease the more cantankerous fan like me who happens to be a bassist. A happy bassist makes for a good reviewer…remember that. The overall dark features of this album are never lost in the over-saturation of the industrial nuances simply because they aren’t overdone and are considerably generous in their time-sharing with typical the black metal feel. That’s a true black industrial album and we have it here.

I’m anxious to hear something else from this band in the future; if the train of thought with Plutonium remains the same as it is here then I’m sure you’ll be as enticed and intrigued by this band as I am. It’s really a fine effort in terms of good underground metal and will attract fans of both genres once thought worlds apart.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

(Originally written for www.MetalPsalter.com)