Judas Factor

While the Judas Factor's debut album, Ballads in Blue China, was a sufficiently competent affair, Kiss Suicide builds on the promise and shows the Judas Factor evolving into a much more dynamic and interesting beast. Still present are the nods to modern metallic noise and hardcore, but they've added a fresh interest in subtle sampling, electronics and have really stepped up the emotional plateaux while concentrating on establishing harsher peaks and more placid lows. "Kiss Suicide," mines an emotional formula, but still scores high on the anger chart. The half spoken-word, half all-out cathartic rage of "November 20, 1999" is laden with tom-heavy beats, atmospheric samples and a metallic freak-out reserved for just the right moment, while the discordant opening notes of "Safety Net" segues into a more mid-paced, noise laden journey. Kiss Suicide will easily take you by surprise, but subsequent listens yield something rewarding.